the photos continue

yes, it is true.  for better or worse, i will keep posting pictures until i get to the one of the boys eating breakfast in their hats.

these are the ladies who i spend Labor Day with each year.  They are a pretty amazing group of ladies, and I love them.  (Sorry, Amy, I think you were in the creek taking another picture at this time.  You are amazing, too.) 

hot chocolate after school

kelly and the girls came to visit for a weekend in September.  Michael was away fishing.  It was hot, we were tired, and Kelly had the brilliant idea of taking the kids to Chuck E Cheese for dinner (with us getting good pizza after the kids went to bed).  It was actually really fun, and I look forward to going to the new Chuck E. Cheese the next time we need a family pick me up.  i love my sister.

the next weekend we began the first of our family adventures in arkansas.  Michael carefully chose a day hike to this beautiful waterfall/swimming hole.  It was really lovely - the pictures don't do it justice.

right after I took this picture, I heard michael yell, "ERIN!!"  Now michael does not usually yell my name, so when he does, it gets my attention.  I quickly climbed back up to where the boys were to discover that michael had slipped on a wet rock and fell with ford in his arms, straight into the water.  they were soaked and frank, having witnessed the event, was terrified.

they had to strip off their wet clothes

and i was overtaken with the beauty of the little swimming area.  Since we had not seen anyone on the trail or cars at the trailhead, i decided to just go ahead and swim in my skivies.  it was one of those super moments in life.  the water was cold and refreshing and my family was precious throwing their rocks in the water. 

that is until just about this time, when i was drying off and a family, or perhaps a church group, they were certainly religious (as the women were all hiking in long denim skirts), approached the little waterfall and looked over the edge to see us in all our skin and underwears just hanging out on the rocks. 

frank at least redeemed us.  he was the only one who was fully clothed.  he and michael built rock towers. 

the ride home

here is my new watch.  perhaps you have already seen it on me.  i love, love, love, love it.  so many times i have already gotten to use the calculator, and frank loves the stopwatch.  I can time his running back and forth when we are bored.  I have an alarm set to remind me to start getting ready to pick up frank from school.  I have always wanted a calculator watch since I was a kid, but I never felt cool enough to wear one.  Now I know that just wearing it makes you cool automatically.

Taryn.  sweet taryn.  Our most faithful visiting friend outside of our family.  She has been to every house we've ever lived in.  Frank believes that she comes to see him, i think.  After our trip to the farmer's market (where we saw the ladies singing), Frank requested that we all have a meeting after ford went down for nap.  Taryn was the secretary.  Bobby was in attendance.  I believe our discussion involved dinner plans and whether or not we would watch Star Wars that evening. 

and then we made her do this.  good stuff.

here is one of his latest drawings. 

an after school picnic at the park

the best little pumpkin patch in Kansas

kelly had another brilliant idea which was to go early in the season so we could get a good choice of pumpkins

I love how we all go to the pumpkin patch to get our best fall family photos

the sun is shining, everyone looks healthy and happy

but this is really the behind the scenes

someone gets tired and hungry

someone gets obsessed with his pumpkins

and some mamas get jealous of other people's pumpkin choices and force their families to stay even longer in order to feel better about her pumpkin picking.

the end result: too many pumpkins.  My new friend from Hungary says, "Tell me, what do you do with all these pumpkins after Halloween is over?  You are going to eat them, yes?"
well...i may have to now.  anyone have some good pumpkin recipes?