Beach bonfire

This past Saturday we enjoyed an afternoon and evening at the beach with some friends from church. It was a cool day for swimming and sunning so we "allowed" the Timmons children to entertain our son in the water while mama and daddy stayed nice and dry nearby! Zach surprised me by being a little intimidated by the ocean this year. He kept his distance from the surf and spent the first few hours happily playing in the sand instead. However, the older children were eventually able to draw him closer to the water's edge and pretty soon he was headed out to sea! Zach had to be carried to me every 15 mins so that he could warm up again because he would not voluntarily leave the water-- even though he was shivering from being cold. Eventually he spotted the kite that we had brought and that finally lured him from the water up onto dry land! He loved being able to hold onto the kite and fly it himself. He also loved letting go of the string and watching us go running off after it! (He has a very twisted sense of humor that I blame on the Miller side of the family.)

Later in the afternoon we built a campfire and roasted hot dogs and s'mores. For an extra special treat we also steamed some fresh clams (Zach preferred the empty shells)! YUM!! Somewhere late in the evening Zach fell asleep in my lap as we sat around the fire. We brought home a very sandy, tired boy.

Yard work continues....

We've had a busy spring in our yard still clearing out a lot of "eyesores" that have been left in the yard for years (propane tanks and old sheds). We are finally getting to the fun part where we can start to add things that will make it look nicer. Last weekend, on a rare day off for Steve, we borrowed a friend's pickup truck and my men did some heavy hauling! First stop was sand for a new sandbox. Zach was able to go with Steve and he fully enjoyed the experience of riding in a real truck! (He is really interested in trucks and seems to love them all. We can't ride anywhere in town without him pointing out the "motor graders, back-hoe-loaders, cranes, dump trucks, etc." -all things that I took totally for granted before Zach was around to enlighten me!) Once they arrived at the house with the sand, and then later with mulch, Zach was very willing to help unload the truck! Zach's "help" consisted mostly of him launching sand and mulch into the air and it landing many places other than the sandbox and mulch pile (i.e. Steve's boots and face). It was a full day's work for both boys and I enjoyed watching them work together!

Memorial Day Weekend Adventures

(warning: this is a long blog) This past weekend we went to the White Mountains of New Hampshire for a camping and hiking trip with Steve's sister Carri and her family. We camped two nights and hiked the "Falling Water" trail on Saturday. Our day hike, with 4 children and 1 5-month pregnant lady, took us 11 hours!!!! (By the way...we found out on Wednesday before leaving for our trip that Zach is expecting a little BROTHER at the end of September, he is beside himself with joy!-not really he still has no clue what is happening to mommy's belly) The kids were held back by the slow adults and they didn't complain the entire day. We were very impressed! Zach spent the day in the child carrier eating snacks, singing and napping. Every time Steve stopped to wait for others, Zach would tell him to keep hiking up the mountain! Steve said that he has never had such a wiggly and kicky backpack for a hiking trip.

These pictures are in chronological order of our trip. Please note that the mountain in the background of the first photo is the mountain that we all climbed! The trail was only 3.2 miles to the summit of 4,700 feet but it was a grueling hike and I still can't believe that we all made it to the top! It was too cold on the summit to stay and enjoy the view for very long, but we made it none-the-less, and then began the climb back down to camp...

at the trail head (before)

crossing the streams

YES! That's snow once we got close to alpine zone!

The summit!

That's how far we hiked.

Zach hiked the last little bit.

At the trail head (after)

An excavator in our backyard!

Yesterday an excavator came to visit for 2.5 hours, making our morning anything but routine!! Watching Zach's awe as this heavy piece of machinery was unloaded and then operated a few feet away from us, was a privilege. It was a chilly morning but I don't believe Zach felt the cold at all. The man operating the excavator was wonderful with both of us and didn't mind us watching and even offered Zach the opportunity to climb on and sit in the driver's seat. Zach was much too intimated to accept this offer for the first 2 hours but as the work was finishing he climbed up and 'drove'!! Today is sure to be much less exciting for our two-year-old boy!

The Shed

One chainsaw...
Two sledgehammers...
Three hours...
Four men...
Five women (2 pregnant)...
Ten pizzas...
Twelve children... and
The SHED IS GONE!!!!

Easter

Toddler gym

Here are a few pictures of the toddler gym program we participated in this winter. Daddy was our teacher at the start of the program but Zach still managed to have fun when daddy changed jobs and wasn't there anymore. Once again Zach amazed me with what is important to him in life...each week I would say that we were going to the gym to play with balls and the parachute etc. and all he'd talk about is the tiny little sticker he would get at the end!

Cookies

Zach was very cooperative when taking care of mommy's need for cookies!! I couldn't get him to smile for any pictures because he was too intent on licking every bite!

Birthday party!

Please forgive me for having been absent from blogging for 2 whole months. I have barely kept up with food and laundry for the past 14 weeks but thankfully I think the first trimester blahs are done. I won't bore you with long, witty comments on these next few blogs as I just try to catch you up on what Zach has been doing while I've been on the couch...
In February, Zach (and mommy and daddy) went to our first kid birthday party. The party was geared for much older children so I thought Zach looked especially little sitting at the table next to all the big kids. His favorite part by far was the cake and was momentarily disappointed when it didn't come with ice cream! (When we told him we were going to a birthday party he immediately said, "cake...ice cream"?)

The party was held at a very exciting bounce house with 8 of the largest and most elaborate "bounce houses" I have ever seen (or even thought would exist). Zach's favorite ride was the push lawn mower that he walked around between the houses!

Reading to baby

Just thought I'd share this cute little moment with you all...Zach pulled 'baby' and a book into his lap and he proceeded to "read" to baby from the book. You might be able to tell in one of the pictures that baby is pointing to pictures and asking, "what's zis?". Zach was wonderful about answering all of his questions!