The Relatives Come to Town

This past week our little family was honored with a visit from my parents and a few of my siblings who hail from a small town in rural Minnesota. We feel appreciative they were so willing to do the 15 hr. trek despite the short visit. We tried to do some fun and memorable activities and we hope they left with a better idea of our living conditions and surroundings here in central Ohio. Most of all I'm sure my parents were simply relieved to see we weren't living in a box down by the river and that our children are subsisting on more than just Ramen noodles and pb&j sandwiches.

We took an afternoon trip one day down to (Ohio) famous Hocking Hills. It is a massive state park and has a lot of amazing natural features. We barely scraped the surface with our trip. We will definitely be returning many more times while we live here to do greater amounts of exploration. With my family we decided two strollers and a chubby pregnant gal constituted hikes through handicap accessible parks (which is another way of saying paved trails, no hills, and no stairs). We chose to check out Ash Cave and it was quite impressive. Like one of my siblings said it is almost like being on a different planet. The cave is the largest in the state of Ohio and the size of it is consuming to the mind. It really is awe-inspiring.



The best way to enjoy something is to simply walk away and leave the babies with the boys!

ha. ha.ha.

Grandma and Emery sharing a few moments after our visit to Ash Cave. My mom and youngest brother, Ammon.

There was a little trickle of a water rolling off the top of Ash Cave. It was enough to capture the girls' and Ammon's fancy. I'd say anything involving even the smallest puddle of water is captivating to my kids.

Where else would we find Dashle other than scooping up sand, dirt, or mud to taste test?

This is my cute youngest sister Cortney. She is a big hit with the nieces and nephews.

This is our sweet little nephew, Liam. We think he is pretty chunka-licious! If his roley-poley body doesn't win you over his dark eyes, brows, and lashes will! The picture below is my older sister, Erin, aka "Li-Li's mama." We're really glad she made the trip even though she left her hub, Zach, at home.

It is a rarity to capture my parents in a picture together and even rarer to catch my dad in a picture at all. I'm sure my posting of this picture will result in a lifelong campaign by them to stay out of the camera's eye.




Wet Fun in the Sun

While my family was gracing us with their presence we also went to the squirt park (or thus it is called by my kids). We had a great time regardless of the little boy who kept bulldozing every other kid because "[he] was running in a line!" I often find it ironic that parents just happen to stop paying attention to their kid as he is leaving a wake of injured and frightened children smashed and flattened into the pavement.

Dashle thought the water was great until it splashed in his face. Every time this happened he would gasp for air and then run far away from the spraying water. The only way for this guy to get back into the water and try it again was by doing a little Thai-Chi to pump himself up internally and muster some bravery.

Li-Li didn't really appreciate getting his feet wet. But, even in his sad moments he is pretty adorable.


My brother Colin (recently Elder Bennett) was the only one who didn't try out the water. That he just returned home from his mission explains his hesitancy to get wet but I'm not sure a person can drown from running through a glorified sprinkling system. ha.ha.;) Woah! That's cold!

This cute little girl came right up to Dashle to check him out. He started to raise his arm and I was afraid he would give her a shove, but instead he stuck his hand close to her face and said, "Hi." He must have thought she was a cutie, too, so he decided to make nice. I'm certain he was getting ready to ask her in baby babble, "So how do you feel about guys with big bellies?"



I think Emery decided during this visit that having an uncle who is only 3 years older isn't so bad after all.