Dutch Wonderland

In June, we took the girls to Dutch Wonderland in Lancaster, PA. We all had such a great time! We drove up after church and lunch on Sunday, got settled at the campground, ate dinner, and then went to Dutch Wonderland that evening for a little for a preview. After getting back to the campground, and spotting a herd of cows right on the otherside of the creek from our tent, we had a good night's rest and were refreshed for a fun day at the park. Beside the usual favorite attractions for the girls- train, carousel, monorail, ect.- Elise really liked the pony ride, and they couldn't get enough of the water park. After a busy day, we headed home. Bek was so tired she fell asleep with her snack in her mouth and hands, and Elise was asleep before we got out of the parking lot! We're all looking forward to going back next year! Here are some photo highlights.

Camping

We took the girls on their first camping trip this summer, overnight at Patapsco State Park- Hollofied Area in Ellicott City. Ray and I kept asking each other why we hadn't done it before because we all had such a great time and it was only 20 minutes away! We cooked veggie burgers for dinner over our campfire and then had s'mores. If you ask Elise what her favorite thing is about camping, she tell you chocolate and marshmallows. Rebekah kept coming over and asking for chocolate! Some photo highlights from our evening...

Matching

Everyday ask Elise if she wants to wear a dress or shorts. On Saturday, she told me she wanted to wear green shorts. Then she said she wanted to wear a red shirt so she could look like Daddy.

Ray and his buddy were dressed alike the entire day until we went swimming at the Y that night. Aftergetting out of the pool and changing Elise into her pj's, Ray told me Elise said, "But Daddy, now we don't match anymore!" He said that she seemed pretty upset about it, but he reassured her that they could wear matching clothes again. I love how much Elise loves Ray!

Family Update

Two pictures, we just had to share...



That's right! We're expecting the newest addition to our family in December. Ray and I couldn't be more happy, excited, or thankful for this new baby. We are so thankful to the Lord for his faithfulness to our family. Rebekah already loves that my belly button is starting to stick out, and Elise can't decide if she wants a brother or sister. It's such a wonderful season in our lives!

Strawberry Picking

Today we took our first visit to the farm this year. We all had a great time and picking was excellent. We weren't sure how well Rebekah would do with all the freedom, but it turns out all we had to do was have her stand next to us, and she was as happy as can be. It didn't hurt that she could eat as many strawberries as she wanted! We ended up picking a little over 13lbs. I think we'll end up using most, and we do plan on sharing some with friends. Some photo highlights from our morning.

Personality

These pictures are prefect examples of the girls' personalities...

Elise getting silly and slap happy with the leftover party hats from her birthday.

Sassy Miss Rebekah, perfecting her modeling look.

Notes for Daddy

This is becoming a frequent scene in our house. Elise has become really interested in what I do at the computer and to whom I write notes. Mind you, I'm not on the computer a lot when the girls are awake, but when I think of something that I need to send to someone or something I need to do on the computer, I have to do it right away or else I'll forget and it won't get done. One day during snack time, I sent Ray a note. Elise asked who I was "writing a note for" and when she found out it was Daddy, she wanted to right a note to Daddy, too! She has a great time typing her note and pressing keys for different things to pop up on the screen. Usually her note says, "Hi, Daddy. I love you." or something similar. Sometimes she updates him on what we're going to be doing. She's also taken up walking around the house, talking on the phone to Daddy (eventhough there's no one on the line) really loudly. I guess she's just prepping me for the teenage years! What a sweetie who loves her Daddy to pieces!