the diaper change

Rory loves changing diapers for some reason. But cloth diapers are a bit more complicated than disposables and Crosby never wears disposables and Piper only does at night. So, Rory was very excited when she successfully changed her first cloth diaper. Gage was the assistant and in charge of lifting up baby legs.

batmen

hersheypark

We've had some Hersheypark tickets on our desk for a couple months. So, we finally decided to go on Thursday when it was nice and cool out. I didn't end up with many pictures since the camera battery died not terribly long after we got there. 

This is Crosby's first ever carousel ride. Piper was terrified of sitting on the horses and wanted to ride on the seat also. Sometimes she will sit on the horses - other times she is afraid of them.

Driving. Piper loves anything with a steering wheel. She never quit steering.

Space travel.

Sleeping baby.

Lady bugs. And that's when the camera died. I got a few more on my phone. It takes pretty bad pictures. 

This is the mini scrambler.

Piper fell asleep in the stroller for about an hour and a half.

Rory and Gage got to go on their first roller coaster and even got to go upside down. They are very excited about it. My phone isn't fast enough to take a picture of anyone in the loop so we just took a picture of the empty loop. They thought it was great. The fastest thing Gage had ever been on before the roller coaster was the pirate ship earlier on the same day. He was rather unfazed by any of it. He just sat on the roller coaster and talked to me like we were back on the carousel. After we got off we walked up toward the loop and he asked me why we didn't go on that part. I'm still not sure he believes we did.

it's cold in here

house guests

(Sorry none of these pictures are very good. I was stretching over plants to take them.)
We had a praying mantis come visit us the other day.

We also have approximately 3 trillion grasshoppers in our yard and on the side of our house. And about 6 trillion in the field beside our house.

We only have about 1 trillion of this guy.

giggles

Crosby finds it hilarious when Rory lifts up the end of his bouncy seat and lets it fall back. He found it even more hilarious before I got the camera out. (And no, I have no idea how to make them right side up.)

and then he pulled her hair

double binky piper

wildwood

We went to Wildwood on Saturday with my parents and Sam and Nathaniel and his family. We walked about 3 miles on a trail around the lake where all the American lotus is blooming. 

Rory playing in the creek.

Gage dancing in the creek.

Cousin Clara playing in the creek.

Piper crying because I told her she would get wet and muddy if she went in the creek. It seems just thinking about it is as bad as actually being wet and muddy.

Crosby watching and wishing he could play in the creek.

my dad with Piper, Gage, my brother Sam, Rory, my brother Nathaniel, my nephew Blake and Randy the dog

Looking for snapping turtles in the big drainy thingy. (I don't actually know what it is.)

my dad with Piper, Gage, my sister in law Johnelle holding my niece Clara, Rory, my brother Nathaniel, my nephew Blake, my brother Sam and Randy the dog

Piper taking a backwards ride.

Water snake.

A butterfly.

Some turtles.

American lotus. The yellow flowers are lotus. I'm not sure why I didn't take a better picture. There are tons of them all over the lake. These ones are kind of difficult to see well because they were facing the sun on the other side of the lake.

Gage trying to see the lake through binoculars that he's too short for.

Piper and Clara learning about recycling in the nature center.

There is a big tree in the nature center with tunnels under it for kids to crawl through and look into (fake) animal nests. This is Piper, Rory and Clara looking out a window under the tree.

And one more of Crosby.

under the crib

Gage slept on the floor in the girls' room the other day. This is what I found in the morning.

Gage asleep under one end of Piper's bed and his sheet under the other.

playground

There is a playground in Manheim that we had never gone to before last week. I'm not really sure why - we've been to playgrounds all over the county since we moved here and to the other one in Manheim. They have some really cool stuff at this one (you just have to be about 15 to be able to actually use some of it). I thought I had a lot more pictures than these few. Apparently not. 

Swinging with cousin Delilah.

Monkey bars that he can't get any farther across.

And this crazy thing. The top and bottom both rotate at different angles. The kids weren't quite tall enough for it so they just sat on the bottom piece. I think Rory and Gage both got thrown off from it spinning so fast.