A little woodsy walk

I am so excited to have my nieces, Lauren and Sidney, visiting for the first 6 weeks of summer vacation. Of course, I am not nearly as excited as Allie is to have her matching age cousin for the world's longest sleepover. They have decided to just be called "the nines" as they are a 9yo unit instead of 2 individual girls now. We are one week in and they could not be happier.

Lauren at almost 13 now is definitely different for me. After so many years of just little ones, a preteen brings some new experiences. It has been a long time since I have had anyone riding shotgun. I am used to climbing into the car, tossing my bags in the passenger seat, and looking over my shoulder to check on seat belts. Lauren is getting pretty good at catching those bags before they bop her. I am in awe of the total of songs on her ipod--pretty much every song on that pops on the radio inspires her to say, "I have this on my ipod" and she is correct. Also amazing is the speed her fingers can text. But it is also fabulous to have someone who wants to watch shows with me, scrapbook endlessly, and who is excellent at jumping in on the housework.

Zack could be the odd man out, but mostly he is enjoying himself. The girls all include him in their games and allow him to fetch things and push them on the swings. Fortunately for him, he is too young to realize those are not actual priviledges. This week is all about tooth loss for my little man. His front two teeth have been moving forward in anticipation of jumping ship for several weeks. We are certain they will be in the hands of the tooth fairy any time now.

We headed to the park in our subdivision for a nature walk and photo shoot. We loved seeing all the baby geese and ducks. Zack found a beautiful feather that he just would not let go of for anything. Here the kids are walking and running across the bridge over the creek.


After playing along the bridge, we stopped for some portraits. Lauren by the edge of the bridge:

The nines taking turns modeling in the crook of a tree:


And then Zack took his turn in the tree. He is refusing to smile until at least one tooth pops out since he insists that they poke his lips if he is happy. We are having way too much fun making him laugh even when he doesnt want to, but for this shot, he held firm.

More soon!