Summer visitors

This summer has been full of visits from family, which has been so so fun.

Cousin Lily spent a few days with us on her day to see a friend in Boston.

Swimming with cousins is the best.


Lily was so kind and patient with the boys (Robbie I think had a little crush on her) and hung out with Clara.

Grandpa and Grandma were here for almost a week, which was wonderful as always. Grandpa brought his back massager, and the grandkids couldn't get enough of it.

Seth and Marissa stopped by on their way to Nova Scotia for dental school, and the boys really enjoyed playing with Andrew.

We took everyone to Wildwood Park for a picnic.

Grandma enjoys swinging along with her grandkids.

Benjy loves to swing. This giant hat has been so helpful in covering his fair hair--he generally tolerates it.

Cookout with cousins!

The Shenandoah Valley has some of the sweetest corn.

We then enjoyed a visit from Bethany and her boys, William, George, and Frederick. Here Benjy is meeting his newest cousin.

Firepit evening.

And devotional. Aunt Melody also was visiting, and she was super helpful. She is going to stay with us a little longer this year, too!

We let the boys stay up and catch fireflies.

See what I found, Mama?

Robbie, William, and Henry were buddies.

More family time.

Wrestling.

And reading.

A week or two after Bethany and her boys left, my sister Heather and most of her kids came to visit for a couple of days. Despite the huge age gap, her kids were very kind and tolerant of ours and we really enjoyed their visit.

 We went to the pool of a couple of times, which is fun for all ages.

 Heather graciously came with me to Henry's follow-up appointment at UVA pediatric neurology to discuss his Complex Motor Stereotypy disorder. (On that front, his movements have really decreased since his previous appointment and our family fast, and we've decided to not pursue therapy right now and will look into it when he's a little older as needed.) It was nice having time just the two of us to chat in the car.

 Blondies!

 We took them to the Mt. Crawford Creamery and had fun bottle-feeding the calves.

 They sucked that milk down so fast.

 Robbie wasn't a big fan of the animals, but Catherine enjoyed them. Duncan was a good example to the boys.

Farm fun.

 The farmer showed us how he disinfects, wipes, and then milks the dairy cows.

 And of course we had to have some of the ice cream made with the fresh milk from Smiley's Ice cream.

Continuing in the country vein, we stopped by the Shenandoah Heritage Market and tried some of the jams. Heather gave us a jar of "Lollipop Jelly," which was made of apple juice Kool-aid, among other things.

More reading! Heather was glad to be able to let her kids catch fireflies one evening as well, since they don't have them out west. I was honored that they were able to spend time with us on their busy trip.

Then the following week, we were thrilled to have L'Anita and Erik Heiss and their kiddos for a few days.

 We drove down to Sherando Lake, and Michael took the cousins out on our pedal boat that has been sitting unused behind our shed for far too long.

 Fun in the water. Although I have to say, I think they had more fun at the pool when we went the following day.

Digging a "small pool" for baby Benjy, is I believe what Robbie called this endeavor.

 Lucy and Henry were two peas in a pod and enjoyed these shovels that they unwittingly borrowed from another family.

 Benjy wasn't too sure of the sand and the water, but he got used to it and had fun splashing around.

 The best part was driving back and forth with L'Anita--girls in the van, boys (minus Benjamin) in the truck--and chatting. Here is Benjy with new cousin Lily--she is such a doll!

 Banana splits for the win.

 Saturday morning park visit and Abigail on the zipline.

 With Uncle Erik.

 Samuel and Robbie were such buddies--so similar in age, interest, and personality.

The chicas.

 Four-year-old fun (well, Lucy was almost four).

Seven-year-old shenanigans.

It was truly a joy to watch the kids play together. Michael involved everyone in an epic filming of baby Moses for a Sunday afternoon movie starring all the cousins, and there were lots of light saber and Nerf gun fights, talking, role playing games with Abigail as lead director, Lego building, etc. Robbie wanted to make sure that he could give everyone a hug goodbye when they left.