BIG pool and FRIENDS!

Playdates are some of my very favorite days...especially now that the kids are getting older and can really play with each other.

It's so funny to hear them talking, singing, and to watch them learn such great swimming skills!

Today, we got to play with Michelle, Malaina, Leah, Caleb, Reta, Ryder, and Kobi!

Matt and Michelle have the most beautiful, brand new deck and pool!

I'd be lying if I said that I wasn't excited to hear about this new project for them - since I knew that we'd get to spend some great summer days swimming with our friends!

"Monster Caleb" all ready to swim!
He's going to be a big brother, you know...to 2 babies!
He gets a baby brother AND a baby sister in September/October!!

Hopefully, you read about our success with Brooke and her swimming at the lake in Poe...
Today was Brooke's first time in a 'real' pool! She loves her baby pool, but a big pool?
SHE LOVED IT!

We floated and bobbed around the pool for hours this afternoon!
Brooke really liked climbing up the stairs and jumping into the water!

Now that I know she likes the water, we'll have to find a few floating contraptions so that she can learn some swimming skills from her friends!

Thanks Michelle and Malaina for letting us visit today!

See you next week! Same time, same place!

We love you!

Brookie does Bible School - year 2!!

Can you see my little shipmate on her Nana's lap?

Brooke made her return for this year's Bible adventures! She LOVED the singing and dancing - but preferred to watch from the safety of Nana's lap!

Mommy has been in charge of registration this year, so Brooke played with Nan until the kids were heading off to their classes. Then, she had lots of room to run and play!

"Two shishees."

Judy was our teacher tonight, and she turned the classroom into a scene from the middle of the ocean! The kids were all loaded up in a big, rocking boat - they were screaming and having so much fun! Brooke wanted to be part of the action - but she wouldn't dare go into the classroom!

What is it about these steps that attract kids of the Maitland COB?

I remember playing on them LOTS as a kid...next generation!

Brooke sat with the 'big kids' during snack time - she thinks she's hot stuff!

At the end of the night, our leader (HI MARIA!) wanted a group shot of the kids in the boat! I couldn't believe that Brooke let Miss Maddie hold her, but she did! SO CUTE!

Brooke and Ava!

We had so much fun - and we'll go back again tonight for more!

Check back tomorrow for pictures from our playdate this afternoon with Michelle and Malaina!

Happy Tuesday!

I love her in blue!

...even WHEN she's blue...

...cuz it only lasts a minute or two...


...when you won't let her walk for a few...

Don't you think she looks GREAT in blue?

...(and in red) ME TOO!

This week for the Wray 3...

Playtime with Nana while Mommy packs and prepares for this week's trip!

A swimming playdate with Michelle and Malaina!

More packing and cleaning...

BIBLE SCHOOL each evening...

Leaving for Benezette!

Praying to see a few fireworks with our little fire-cracker!

More soon!

Bye-Bye BOTTLES!

I'm very happy (and super proud) to report that Brooke has officially said BYE-BYE to her bottles!

HOORAY!!!!!

Eh hem.

I've been working so hard with her - trying to put a lot of hype on 'big girl cups.' She's been perfectly satisfied to drink water or juice out of a sippy cup, but if I dared to try a little milk in that same cup, she'd take one sip and throw it. Acrossed the room.

So, towards the end of the school year, I encouraged my Mom to start offering her milk in a cup with each meal. Hey, it was worth a shot. But, no go. She wasn't interested.

We just kept pressing on...trying the cup every day or so. I've tried every single cup ever created...not joking. You should see my cup cabinet...cups in every shape, size, color, spout, handles, no handles, etc.

With all of our unsuccessful attempts at ditching the bottle, I started feeling more and more embarrassed to take said bottles out in public. To church, to the store, out for a walk... I was so afraid that people would look at herand say, "Isn't that baby too OLD to still be drinking from a bottle!?"

When we packed up for Poe Valley last week, and I had to pack bottles, liners, nipples, AND the milk... I was just plain old irritated.

With 2 more scheduled vacations this summer, I decided that I wasn't going to take bottles with us. So I'd better hurry up and try the 'cold turkey' route. And I did.

Tuesday morning, Brooke woke up and requested 'pancakes' for breakfast. Perfect. Pancakes it'll be! When she asked for her 'nilk,' I put on a BIG show (I mean, BIG) for her while showing her the brand new BIG GIRL CUP full of milk in her fridge! She gasped in suprise, but didn't want that milk. She politely said, 'other milk?' ...sounds like 'uher nilk?' I told her that this WAS her milk and that big girls drink milk from a cup. She took a few sips with her pancakes and the milk went back to the fridge.

(Normally, Brooke drinks an entire 8 oz bottle with breakfast. So, we're already down A LOT of milk in our diet.)

Lunch time. Ravioli with crunchies and apple slices.

"Nilk, please?"

"Sure, baby. Mommy will get your big girl cup!"

"Uher nilk?"

"No. This IS your milk. Try some! See if it's yummy!"

She took a few sips with lunch. Back to the fridge.

Afternoon before nap.

"Nilk? Snack?"

"Sure hunny."

I kid you not, Brooke drank the ENTIRE cup of milk and ate all of her snack. Then, she layed down for a 2 hour nap.

Suppertime and bedtime. No bottle. Just sippy cup.

Wednesday, Thursday, Friday...repeat above...minus requests for 'uher nilk.'

I've made 'Operation Bye-Bye Bottle' my #1 summer goal, and by gollie, MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!

Monday.

On the 2nd official Monday of my teacher-summer, there were a few firsts in my day!

#1. Brooke slept until 11:00am. Um. Yep. Not kidding.

#2. Due to #1, I was able to drink my coffee and read the paper on my patio! What a great way to start the day! There was a beautiful breeze and the birds were chirping! So peaceful...

The fact that Brooke slept so late can probably be blamed on the weekend trip to Poe! (Don't miss the previous post!) Brooke LOVES her bed and (finally) sleeps so well for us. We figured that she would get a great night's sleep after returning home, but we never thought she'd sleep until lunch time!

While she slept, I took my time getting ready, enjoyed some time outside, finished a few loads of laundry from the weekend, and cleaned out my closet! Closet cleaning is my infamous summer project! I've already taken 2 huge bags of clothes and shoes to Goodwill!

Another first?

Daddy bought Brooke a bigger pool! Look at the smiles on both of their faces!

Daddy spent his entire lunch break today blowing up/filling up the pool so 'his girls' could cool off on such a hot afternoon!

The hose water was a little cold - but it was perfect on an almost 90 degree day!

Mommy doesn't mind a little more space to 'dip!'

We had so much fun!

Brooke figured out that she could use her toys to splash her Momma - and she'd LAUGH!

For as much as she hated the water last year, she loves it so much this summer - and I love that!

It all ended with the removal of her bathing suit. Don't ask.

Can you see her little tan line??

Since she had slept so late this morning, I thought we could skip the nap...but nope.

Doesn't she look sleepy!?

I guess we're finally making up for all of the sleepless days and nights of her first year!

Summer 2010...so far, so GREAT!

There's no place like POE!

If you and I have met, it's no secret that part of my heart belongs to Poe Valley.

Might sound strange to those of you who have never 'summered' with the Richard's in Poe, so allow me to share the short-version of this piece of Heaven with you!

January. 1988.

My grandfather retired into a 'camp.' I use the word 'camp' VERY loosely.

This place was considered a camp, but it had 2 levels. On each level was a living area. A kitchen. A full bathroom. Running water. Cable TV.

Freddy lived in this 'camp' for over a dozen years. He'd travel in and out of town a few times a week, but mostly, enjoyed the quiet mountain air and completing lots of projects in his wood shop.

The camp lovingly became known as F. Duck. Truthfully, it's the most beautiful property that exists in all of Poe. To this day.

My entire family would spend summers, weekends, and most holidays in Poe. With all of the comforts of home in the peaceful mountain...it was our most favorite place to be.

I could write NOVELS full of stories of me, Meg, Stacie, and Stephy giggling on the screened-in porch until we fell asleep.

Or the times that Stacie and I would make hammocks out of blankets tied between the bunk beds. (Only she could tie a tight enough knot to hold us.)

Or the winter weeks we'd spend sled riding down the front hill...BAIL OUT comes to mind!

Or the hours we'd spend on the motorcycles and 4-wheelers covering the acres of trails behind the camp.

Or the late nights that my most favorite people would sit around a 'humper' fire singing hymns to my Dad and Uncle Butch's guitar.

Pure. Heaven.

Freddy has since sold the camp and the property to another family who I can only hope loves F. Duck as much as we still do. In a perfect world, I would have been married and established when my Pap needed someone to buy it and take over the up-keep. Zig and I would have loved to have that place to share with the next generation of our family and friends.

This is F. Duck.

The sign that Freddy made is still hanging at the base of the driveway. It says "Always Inn."

Simply driving by this place, and now looking at the picture... I can smell the camp. Remembering everything about it. Every corner that my family enjoyed for such a huge part of my life. I miss that place.

Sniff. Sniff.

A few months ago, Zig started talking about vacations that we should take this summer. And all of the fun things we can do now that Brooke is a little older. When he mentioned borrowing the Daubert family motorhome (the same motorhome we traveled Out West for 16 days in) to camp in Poe Valley, I almost screamed in excitement. Actually, I did scream!

In late spring, we traveled to Poe when it had just been re-opened after some extensive remodeling. We got to see the new beach house, bath house, playground equiptment, updated camp sights, new sand, refilled lake, and so much more! The best part was, we actually got to pick out the sight that we wanted to be ours.

Zig reserved our sight that week...

And the pictures below chronicle our amazing weekend as a family of 3...

A new generation of Poe Valley...

Our home on wheels for 3 days!

I wouldn't actually call what we did 'camping...'

We had running water, electricity, a full kitchen and all the comforts of home!

Brooke was an explorer! She checked everything out!

She's kind of a big deal! HA!

FINALLY, Friday afternoon, we were ON OUR WAY!
Zig's brother and his family were able to reserve a sight to camp right along with us! They led the way, Zig followed in the motorhome, and I followed him.
This was the view from my car!

These dirt roads were the same that we used to ride on in the back of my dad's truck...
Stacie and I would lay down on the bed of the truck and watch the trees above us - or sit on lawn chairs and hang on for dear life!

This is our almost-6-year-old niece, Zoe Joy!
I'm already calling her the best babysitter ever!
As soon as we got the motorhome and camper parked, Zoe came to help entertain Brooke while Zig and I got everything unpacked!
Brooke just loves her big cousin!

See?

Sight #23!
Home Sweet Home!

After we had everything in order, we spent the evening at Scub and Stephanie's sight.
We cooked steaks and baked potatoes over the fire! SO Yummy!
Brandon, Amanda, and Halle came to visit with us too! The girls had so much fun playing tag, riding bikes, and swinging together!

After we all had full bellies, we walked the kids down to the beach. We walked on the sand, tested the temperature of the lake, and played on the playground! Brooke loved going down the slide - as long as Daddy or Uncle Scub would catch her!

We finished our first night in Poe with mountain pies and goodnight kisses for the kids.
We headed back to the motorhome and you can see just how tired Brooke was...

We rested on the couch, watched Pooh, ate some snacks, drank some milk...
We took a quick (kinda cold) tub, and layed together on the couch.
We were so worried about how Brooke was going to sleep while we were away from home, but she fell asleep with me on the couch, and slept well in the pack-n-play for the entire night!

Saturday morning, Zig made a big breakfast for everyone!
He did bacon, eggs, and toast!

It wouldn't be POE VALLEY without Stacie!
And now, we get to take our daughters to the same place that we used to spend our summers together!
Stacie and I were literally together every weekend of our lives the whole way through high school. Crazy, I know. Our families were so close, it was just what we did. Seemed perfectly normal to us!

I invited Stacie to bring Anna and meet us at the beach to swim...and they decided to join us!
I was so glad that they did!
We lathered the kids up with sunscreen and enjoyed a few hours on the sand!
Brooke ended up LOVING the water! Although, she hated the sand...
We'll have to work on that at the beach!

Zoe Joy showed us all of her swimming skills!
She also played with the babies and helped them have fun in the water!

My Beach Baby!

Stacie and I have ALBUMS of pictures of the two of us from our lifetime of friendship.

We were taking LOTS of pictures of our girls together and are ready to start albums for THEM!

How cute are these girls!!??

Anna will be 1 next month - Brooke just adores her!

Stacie and I have already decided that we were going to take day-trips to the lake with the girls this summer! YAY!

Saturday equaled NO NAP for Brooke!

There was just too much playing to do!

Also, Nana, Pap, Freddy, and Freda came to visit!

We hosted my family and had a big supper over the fire! We were so happy to share our camping experience with the ones who started it all!

She played and played and played!

Bubbles, stones, stickers, galore!

I brought some crafty things to keep the kids busy during the day...or in case of rain :)

After all of our guests had gone, and the camp sight was quiet for the first time, we sat Brooke on the couch to get her tub stuff ready. One minute she was snacking on crunchies and milk, and the next she was FAST ASLEEP!

We decided to skip the tub, and changed her diaper and got her into her PJ's - she never woke up!

We laid her in her bed and didn't hear a peep until 8 the next morning!

OUT!
That mountain air really wore her out!

Brooke was asleep before dark!

But that meant that Zig and I had some quiet time together!

We built a big fire, made S'MORES and relaxed...just the 2 of us!

The view from my chair...

We all took our time waking up on our last morning in Poe!

(Zig is probably going to kill me for posting this picture!)

Brooke crawled in bed with Daddy and watched the Bee movie while I got cleaned up...

I wish you could see how sunburned Zig was from the beach!

After we were ready, we took a walk on the dam, down by the falls, and towards the beach.

Many campers were packing up and heading home, so things were pretty quiet.

There aren't many things more beautiful in this world...

It's weird to think about, but I've literally looked at this view from my eyes at almost every age... And it's still one of my favorite places on earth!

Daddy walking ahead of us, carrying the stroller - since Brooke prefers to walk...

...or ride on sun-burned shoulders.

After our walk, we packed up most of our things, but cooked a few hot dogs for lunch.

It was a great way to end our trip...just the 3 of us.

The brand new sign as you entire the park.

I took this picture on our way out!

...this was Brooke in the back seat as we pulled into our driveway to unpack!

"We're home!," she said.

We're already talking about a few more weekends that we'd like to head back to Poe...

...to share it with MORE family...

...to just be there.

There really is no place like home, but my friends...

There's no place like POE!