Dam

After the corn maze and lunch, we pulled off the road to visit this little dam. As predicted, Elijah loved seeing it. He has become more interested in water now that we have a creek in our backyard.

Daddy took Elijah down the hill, explaining what a dam was. (Eric likes to keep up a running commentary for Elijah - whatever we are doing. That is why, even though I couldn't hear them, I know that was the conversation taking place.)

Throwing rocks in the river:



These boys really, really, really love each other. And that makes me love them all the more.



Oh, there was also a dead snake alongside the river. As Eric and Elijah approached it, I yelled, "Snake! Snake! Snake!" When Eric finally stopped, he just nonchalantly said, "Oh. Where?"

Two days ago, Eric trimmed our bushes. I went to dump the trimmings in the woods. Right on top of the pile was a huge piece of snake skin. I yelled at Eric to come over, thinking he too would be shocked at the size of the snakeskin. (Also, I was wondering how he could have possibly loaded this hunk of dead reptile skin in the wagon without noticing - and commenting on! - it.) Eric was unimpressed, but perhaps only because he had to blow his nose.

If the situation had been reversed, my reaction would have gone something like this:
"Wow! That is huge! Did you put that in the wagon? I did? Well, I don't understand how I didn't notice that! Do you think there are snakes under the house? How big do you think this snake was? When do snakes shed their skin? Is this from a dangerous snake? I just really can't believe I picked that up without noticing it!"

Does anyone else not react to snakes or their old body parts?

Rippavilla Corn Maze

My first corn maze experience was with Uncle Al and Eric in Pennsylvania. I believe it was the Maize Maze. It was probably one of the most fun things I have ever done. It was, I have since learned, not your typical corn maze. When you went into this maze you had to carry a flag. The flag was to ensure that you could be found, or that you could get help when needed. Yeah. It was that difficult. The goal was not to just get through the maze, not to just collect all the puzzle pieces from various stations around the maze, but to complete a puzzle - both pictoral and cryptic - at the end. It was AMAZING. Then we ate at the world's biggest buffet....

This year we headed back to Rippavilla's Corn Maze for year #2. We split up into teams: boys, including babies, v. girls. There were two exits. We both found exits within about 40 seconds of entering the maze. It was rather disappointing. Eric and Jason went to apply for a refund with the argument, "This isn't a maze. It is just a grid!" After that, the people gave us a Treasure Hunt checklist of sorts, and we headed back in. That made it a lot more fun, but Rippavilla certainly does not win the Best Corn Maze award for this year. Nevertheless, the boys had a great time, we had fun with our friends, and we got some cute pictures.






Elijah displays sharing:

New Landlord

Elijah is trying to help out the family by befriending our new landlord. First, he offered to ride around the yard with him on the tractor.
[Note our darling crabapple tree. We have three, all ripe with fruit!]

At a picnic later that day, Elijah and the landlord were looking like twins with the food they had smeared on their faces. "That's the real way to eat barbecue!," quoth the landlord.
Someone gave Elijah his first chocolate chip cookie...landlord?
But even the best of friends must draw the line somewhere:

Moving Day

We arrived home from our anniversary trip late Wednesday evening. Many of our friends came to help us move early Saturday morning. I continued to be nauseous while frantically packing in those last 48 hours. Dear Elijah was an absolute wreck - everything in our home was in chaos, he was being quite neglected, and there was an air of anxiety around the home. Oh, and did I mention I was nauseous? Nonetheless, we were successfully packed and ready to go by 8:00 on Saturday morning.

Mom came to ease the burdens involved with moving. As she said, we "worked her like a Mexican!" During her off-minutes we had her babysit~:-)


To reward Mom (and since we neglected to give her any kind of wage), we took her to Star Cafe on her last night in town. The atmosphere was super cute, the food mediocre. They had live music, which always makes a place feel more Nashville.

We let Mom get dessert...much to everyone's dismay. She ordered peach cobbler. The waitress brought it out and attempted to hand it to Mom. Mom made this completely disgusted face, and just kept staring at it. It was so bad that I had to say, "Mom just take it from her!" Mom said that she paused for so long because she was thinking through all the desserts offered there; clearly this must have been something else. Mom finally erupts with an incredulous, "Is this the peach cobbler?" "Yes." The waitress came back shortly and said she wouldn't charge us for it due to the lack of peaches in the cobbler. Mom heartily agreed with her, and wanted to discuss again how it didn't look like a peach cobbler should look. It was so funny. Elijah and Eric had no problem finishing off the maligned cobbler.

We really had a great time, as always, with Mom here. (COME BACK SOON!) Even with all her help, it is mostly nice to just to have her around all day.


We LOVE our new home. It is at least twice as big as our old apartment, which is so nice for Elijah. He actually has room to play now. We have a great big yard, picnic tables, and a big creek in which to play. This house is such a great blessing - far above anything I ever dreamed of, especially at this point in our lives. Isn't God good to surprise us with more than we can ask or imagine...and through dear friends?

Honeymoon #4

Well, I would post pictures of our trip, but our film has yet to be developed. You heard that right. We bought a disposable camera - one with real film - because we couldn't find my camera. Strangely, it turned up the day after we made our purchase.

We went to Red River Gorge in Kentucky for a little wedding anniversary celebration. Our cabin was gorgeous and perfect; the back deck overlooked the river. This was the same river we went "wading" in. Our attempt to walk in the creek up to the swimming hole was cut short when Eric "saw something huge. I don't know what it was. It was HUGE!" In a moment of genius (similar to all my emergency responses), I frantically exited the river on the side opposite of our cabin...the side without trails, a steep embankment, and thick underbrush. We were able to make it back to the cabin unscathed, although a bit unsettled.

The next day we drove to the swimming hole. It proved to be quite a trek in the car, so I am glad our wading plans had been foiled early on. While at the swimming hole I distracted two young chaps by conversing with them as they jumped off this enormous rock into the river below. My incredibly interesting conversation caused them to lose sight of their dog, which then ran away into the woods. To make amends, Eric and I climbed the huge rock and attempted to spot and call the dog. When our efforts failed, we jumped. Well, Eric did it like that - he just jumped. I stayed at the top of the rock saying, "I can't do it! I really don't think I can do it." as I teetered on the edge. Eric's sage advice, "You know you'll regret it if you don't jump." pushed me over the edge and onto a fish that was AT LEAST TWO FEET LONG. Probably much larger, because my view of the fish was mainly from the top of the rock. My fear of jumping was surpassed by my fear of landing on a huge fish with a giant, pointy snout. The fish darted away, creating a huge splash which Eric thought was from me losing my shoe. I never felt the fish; I think I was swimming to the bank before I even landed.

Oh, and I jumped after being bitten on the shoulder by an enormous bug. Said bug bite has now left a 1 centimeter lump atop my shoulder.

We tried to eat out a lot. This would have been fun except I was nauseous ALL THE TIME. Bruen's was our favorite restaurant. We went twice. The first time we walked in I was crying because I felt so sick. The entire restaurant - men in overalls & women with beehives, all over 55 - looked when we entered. Eric asked our waiter if we could switch tables due to some awkward chair placement. The sweet waiter looked at my tears, assumed I was psycho, and said "whatever would make you comfortable" in a very understanding voice. Later he gave me a free Ale81, which we learned is pronounced "LA." It is a drink made right there in Kentucky. The waiter and I then, of course, were great friends. I returned for the friendship (disappointing as my favorite waiter was not there); Eric returned for the food.

We also ate at the Natural Bridge State Park restaurant. Disgusting. They brought out enough food to feed at least eight people. It was disgusting and expensive. I had to leave the restaurant a bit earlier than Eric.

Eric was really a good sport about the persistent nausea. He also had a good attitude when our 8-ton Thunderbird got stuck in the cabin's steep gravel driveway. Not to worry. The landlord lives just across the street from the cabin. He and his wife were spying on us and came right over with the tractor to pull us onto the road. Nice.

We danced with many a person at the Hoe-Down on Hoe-Down Island. Yes. Of course, it was the best thing we did the whole vacation! We also entered the outdoor dance at a discounted price because the girl collecting the entrance fees could not calculate how to give change. Eric finally convinced her to up our rate slightly by showing her he had a few more ones. There I talked to the skinniest eight-month-pregnant, smoking mother I have ever seen. In the restroom she assured me "I haven't gained any weight with this baby." Then I avoided the urge to have a counseling session.

Aaaagh, a marriage of three years. What would I do without you dear Eric?

The Wagon

The wagon can serve many purposes. It can, for instance, transport tired Tooskies back home from the park. Grammie put her sunglasses on Elijah to help him relax. I was surprised he kept them on this long - all the way from Dragon Park to (almost) our house. Oh, the things a baby will do when he is all worn out! (Good job, Grammie!)

Swimming in the Bathtub

A month or so ago Elijah discovered the joys of swimming in the bathtub. He loves it, and flops on his belly as soon as all his soap has been rinsed off. We have to stand around and wait for him to finish playing/swimming/kicking/splashing before he'll stand up so we can dry him off. He always looks up at us to make sure we are watching him have a good time~;-)

Oh, and Elijah can still find his belly!