At the end of August my Dad came to visit. We loved having him! He mmmmmed and aaahhhed over my cooking :), hung on the kids' every word and played and played. We stayed home and relaxed, spent lots of time outside and got to go to church together...pretty perfect to me.
My Dad is a nature man. He loves being outside in the woods, by the water and camping and so do I. He taught me a lot about trees, wildlife and the natural world. So, it was a total joy for me when my Dad took the kids out in our little back yard to explore all the bird feathers, walnuts, rocks, sticks, leaves etc. that they could find. They watched the squirrels, identified birds and their calls and gathered little natural treasures. The kids adored every second of it.
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| Tiny treasures. |
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| Hannah and her Papa. |
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Here they are making a mini nature video of a squirrel (complete with Steve Erwin-esque comentary!!... "What a beauty!" :).   Walking with Papa.    |
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| Papa and "the little guy." "Caleb-Caleb, Caleb-Caleb, Sunshine Boy." |
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| Dropping leaves on one side of the bridge and watching them appear on the other side. Benjamin LOVED this! :) |
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| At our park. I love where we live. Everything is so green. There is beauty all around us. |
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| Love this photo lots and lots. Oh, man was Benjamin excited about fishing! |
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| Hannah was chilly, but she was a good sport and did not want to miss all the fishing fun. |
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| Jared thought maybe casting out farther would help us catch one. It didn't, but it sure was fun watching him try. :) |
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| Love my baby Caleb. Sweet sleeping boy. |
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| Such a great spot. Right before leaving we got to watch an osprey catch a fish. He had better luck than we did, but not nearly as much fun. :)
We also got to visit Nixon park together with Papa and the Sechrists. Hannah, sadly, threw up in the car right when we got there (so random, she never throws up!) and I was without my extra clothes bag. Luckily, Aunt Laura came to the rescue and we were back to racin'. We explored the nature center inside and walked a couple walking paths outside.
I do so love these handsome guys.
 
Bright, exploring girls!
  
Sleepy baby. Walking with the family.
Boys at the creek.
Girls at the creek.
Eureka! at the creek.
The creek. :)
So lovely.
Sunlight through leaves on a blue sky, my favorite.
Jared borrowed cousin Noah's fish net to see if he could scoop up the most enormous craw fish we'd ever seen. I stood on the opposite bank, taking this photo, loving the fun and adventurous man I married. :)
Little boy. Big woods. Priceless.
Near the end of his visit Papa Jim treated us to a trip to a local farm store. We each picked out our favorite fresh produce to bring home, plus lots of extras for supper that night, some cherry cider and cinnamon honey sticks. Yum! Here in Lancaster, we live in road stand, farm store mecca!! It is amazing how much organically, locally grown/raised food we can get here so easily. We love it!
At the farm store. Good advice. :)
Thank you Papa for visiting! We know it was a marathon East Coast vacation and we are so glad for all the wonderful time we got to spend with you. We love you!!
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