Great Falls of the Potomac

The Fall colors are just beginning here and the weather has been so enjoyable. Since we know it won't last we are trying to get out and see as much as we can. Yesterday we decided to go to the Great Falls of the Potomac (C & O Canal National Historic Park).

Livy's seat got upgraded! It was her first day facing forward in her car seat. (It's not quite first class, but it was pretty fun to have her a part of the family).

Cody took this picture. It's nice to be able to be in pictures every once in a while to prove we were there. I thought he did a pretty nice job too.

Cody took this one too.

And Cody took this one too. He said this one was his favorite because he likes big eyes.

Kylee did not want any pictures of herself. So we told her to hold up the peanuts and we would take a picture of those instead.

Checking out the falls from the overlook.

There are a whole bunch of Billy Goat Trails where you can scramble over rocks. Perfect for the kids.

Before heading home we decided to test out our new backpacking stove and a few dehydrated meals. The kids were super excited.

Boil some water, pour it in the pouch and give it a stir, wait 6 minutes,  and Voila! You've got yourself a hot meal. We were impressed at how delicious they were. Now we know we won't starve to death if we ever have to use our 72 hour kits.

Cody kept saying SPORK. He thought that was a pretty cool word and he was excited to eat with it.

There was so much to see and do. We'll have to go back and do more of the Billy Goat Trails when we have more time and we have a kid carrier instead of a stroller.

Hopefully the Fall colors will be more brilliant next weekend. 

Welcome Baby Charlie

So happy to hear that baby Charlie arrived last night!  He's the big boy in the NICU (he has a possible lung infection) at 7 lbs. 7 oz.  and he hopefully won't have to be there much longer.

I had just talked to my sister Sara a few hours earlier and she was looking forward to her induction in a few days. But Little Charlie decided to come on his own and he was in a hurry too.

We're so glad he's here. We love cousins!

Is it a bib or a necklace?

For months now Livy has had a special thing for a little plastic baby doll bib we have. She puts it on herself whenever she comes across it around the house.

It's kind of a mystery to me though because she hates wearing real bibs when she's eating and so I gave up on having her wear them months ago.  It's funny to me that she won't wear the soft terrycloth ones but she will wear this plastic stiff one.

It makes me wonder if she thinks this little bib is a necklace or something....?  That's the only thing I can think of.  

Either way it cracks me up whenever I turn around and see her playing with it around her neck.

P.S. And the girls play great together most of the time these days. Livy is learning how to play with others and Kylee is learning how to not man-handle others. Kylee says it's really hard to leave her alone. She literally can't stand to keep her hands off of her. Every day she tells me, "I'm just so glad we have that baby." 

Both Cody and Kylee think she is the best baby in the whole world.

Kilgore Falls

Last weekend we went to Kilgore Falls (about an hour and a half north of us). It was really fun to be in the car with the kids and do a little hiking too. Kylee didn't really appreciate slipping in the river and getting soaked, but everything else was perfect (even with all the bathroom emergencies we experienced.)

Excited to arrive and stretch our legs.

 The trail took us to the top of the falls.

And then we climbed up a little higher to get down and around to the front of the falls. 

Going down... 

The one with the blurry hand is the culprit in this picture. 

And then Kylee lost her balance and got soaked. 

She was so sad. 

It was heart breaking. 

 And then it was Cody's turn...

Cody slipped... 

 He was half crying half laughing in the cold water.

 After the kids got all wet they were ready to head back.

Livy kept waving at Steve on the trail. 

Steve was trying to be silly and upbeat for Kylee since she was sad about getting soaked. But she was not taking the bait. Finally, with her cute little attitude she said, "I just need you to leave me alone." (She wasn't being mean, just grumpy--in a cute way.)

(I was walking a little bit ahead of them and started listening in at this point...)

Steve pressed on with his cheeriness. He said, "That's fine. If I wasn't going to leave you alone this is what I would say..." and kept on talking.

Kylee was too smart for that. She said, "But I asked you to leave me alone."

I was glad she couldn't hear me laughing to myself ahead of them.

So Steve's cheering up efforts might not have worked but Cody, some popcorn, and some peanuts made everything better. And then we had a great ride home followed by showers and the best Italian pepperoni sandwiches we've ever had.