Up North

Saturday we headed up north to see some family, and then yesterday we were going to my grandpa's house to see long distance family that we haven't seen in years! 

On Saturday we got to play with my cousin's dog, Hank.  Hank is still a puppy - a LARGE puppy at that.  He is so playful and fun, Emma had a great time with him!  I think need each other to wear themselves out.  The last time we saw him, he was a bit more relentless at playing with Zoe, but this time he respected her space much better.  Perhaps it's because Emma was so entertaining!

On Sunday Emma got to meet Gavin, from Florida.   He is my cousin's son, so they're second cousins.  He is 7 1/2, and was also a 7 month preemie.  They got along great!  Also, we got to see Tillie, who is just one day older than Emma!  We haven't seen her since the girls were 1 1/2.  The kids played security guards at the gate - they were keeping bears out!

Just chillin' with Cuz!

Festival of Balloons

It's that time of year again, our town's fundraiser for the local schools, booster and rotary clubs, the local Relay for Life for the American Cancer Society, high school band - etc.!  We really like the community feel of the festival, and love to support it.

The festival runs for three days, but we were going to be out of town for part of the weekend.  Emma and I went down yesterday after lunch and rode as many rides as we could fit in all afternoon.  We came home for dinner, and Ed headed over to tend to the CERT booth.  Emma and I returned in the evening and spent a couple of more hours riding rides.  We REALLY got our money's worth on the unlimited ride bracelets.

In the afternoon, she made a tool box at the Home Depot kids club booth.  They do this in the store a couple of times a month as well! 

Ted is such a great helper :)















Some ride pictures.  Emma declared her favorite ride is the Scrambler, and she thinks we rode it about 12 times!  I think it was probably about 8 times.

A video of the Scrambler ride, I was surprised you can see Emma in it because I could not see what I was filming!

They had a new fun house this year.  I couldn't join Emma the first time because I had sandals on (gasp!) and you can't have open toed shoes.  So she ran it by herself and I waited at the exit for this fun spinning barrel!  I got to go through it at night and that barrel made me so unbalanced!

In our opinion, the best time to go is Friday night.  They have a night glow where they set up all the balloons in the field, and keep them standing with the occasional burst of gas!

Since Daddy was volunteering at a booth, we went to visit him before we went home.  We were there with him until almost closing time at 11!

Father's Day

To start Ed's day off, Emma wanted to bring him breakfast in bed.  Only -- it's not all that easy to eat breakfast while in bed!  So he had a table and chair upstairs to eat at, while Emma joined him. 

Later in the morning, the two of them headed to a new-to-them location to go fishing.  A photographer from parks and rec was there taking photos and handed out his card, so we're going to try and get him to send a picture of them fishing.

In the afternoon, Ed set up his hammock in the backyard.  Emma was right there to help, and climb in!

Thumbs up for relaxing!

Candyland

When we play games, Emma typically wants some of her babies to play too.  Today Ted and Brownie played with us.  This can take fur-ever!

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Farm fishing

Today we went out to the farm, and Ed and Emma went fishing with the boys in Papa's pond.  We tried to find shade on a toasty afternoon!

Ed caught a fish, and let Emma reel it in!  She was a happy fisher-girl!  He went back in the pond and maybe we'll catch him again someday when he's bigger :)

More stitches

Today, Emma was out riding her bike and had a crash.  She came over to me with a cut up chin, so we came inside to take a look.  It wasn't as bad as the last time, which was just 99 days ago!  I still wasn't sure if she'd need stitches or not, so we went in to the same clinic.  The nurse even remembered us!  Sure enough, she needed six stitches.  Same amount as last time! 

I made a fun sign to get her picture when we got home :)

Preschool graduation

Emma graduated from preschool today!  They had a ceremony and performed some songs for us, including the classic "I am a pizza." 












Graduated!  Emma and her buddy, Matthew. 















Here is the chicken dance, combined with a little swing-your-partner:



This was the last song - "Goodbye Little Tigers We'll Miss You" - it made me tear up a little.  I suppose it will probably be this way at the end of each year!


After graduation, Ed wanted to take Emma fishing since he had the rest of the afternoon off.  We headed down to the river and found some shade, and set up camp!















Daddy caught a bass!  After a quick picture he released it back in the river.














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Fishing (and camping!)

This weekend we headed to the coast for our first weekend of camping this season.  Saturday was free camping day at all state parks.  Never a bad thing to get a free night!

Also, on Saturday morning there was a fishing derby for kids at Lake Coffenbury nearby.  After breakfast, Ed and Emma drove over with their fishing poles and got started.  Then, Zoe and I (on my bicycle) headed over to join them. 

At the derby, you had to watch out for errant hooks - I saw a couple of people get hooked by kids!  Ed narrowly missed getting one in his hair.  We overheard someone say that earlier in the morning, a man had to go to urgent care after getting a hook in his cheek!  YIKES.  Emma tried to be careful when she cast into the lake.

Emma caught one little fish for about 10 seconds, but he let go of the worm as they pulled him out!  Still, it was a good taste of fishing for her and she has since talked a lot about going fishing!

Eagle!  He knew there was a lot of fish being caught, and he was sure keeping his eye on things by circling the park.















Zoe enjoyed the cool grass.

Back at the campsite, Emma (and Zoe) help get a fire going.  This was also Ted and Woof's first camping trip!

I just had to get a picture of this tree at the campground.  I loved the pretty pink contrasted with the bright green moss!