outside in the morning

Summer's trying to get one last hoo-rah in, now that it's officially fall. We're having a humid heat wave! This morning Annie woke up, and the first thing she said (as she does most mornings) was, "SIZE!" (translation: outside) 

So, out we went! Of course, not until she had donned her just-barely-too-small red hat and white church shoes. She insists on wearing these everyday. :)

(She spent almost 10 minutes getting her bag on her bike just right before taking off.)

cold? what cold?

I couldn't decide whether to title this post "cold? what cold?" OR "rain? what rain?"

'Cause we've got both here in Pennsylvania today! We're all wiping a lot of noses and coughing a lot of coughs! We're under the weather, but loving the rain!

Annie and I thought it was a perfect afternoon to take a jaunt in her new galoshes!

And on a sunnier tone, here are some more sandbox pictures from the past week!

And two more wonderful parts of this week:

Heather brought me by some of her birthday treat, homemade rice pudding! In flavors vanilla, chocolate, and coconut, no less! Ohhhh decadent :)

AND we got a new refrigerator! Check it out!

(I told Annie to pose with the fridge and smile. Look at that cheese!)

So much space!! Love it!

Have a great weekend, everybody!

apple pickin' time!

Over the weekend we went on an apple orchard field trip with a bunch of friends. It was a beautiful September day, and we had a blast!

Annie's in total waif mode in all these pictures. She's also in this phase where she refuses to look at the camera or smile at all. Lovely. :-)

choosing just the right apple . . . 

heading back to the wagon!

We were firmly told not to bite into our apples until we got off the tour, because otherwise the yellow jackets would attack us. Annie had such a hard time with this rule! See the tiny bite marks all over her apple?

welcome to our yard!

We have three new additions to the our backyard!

Annie's sandbox is all done!

Well, it needs a bit more sand, but that'll have to wait til Brant gets a day off. I don't have the energy to manage Annie and lug a few 50-pound bags of sand out of Lowe's. :)

I promise I didn't tell her to pose like a Baywatch babe in the sand here.

This is SUCH an Annie look . . .

And the other additions . . . ta-dah!!

my willow tree!

and my little oak tree!

Come by and visit anytime! :)

birthday, wedding, Beatles, canoe races!

What a wonderful, busy weekend! It started with Annie's 2nd birthday dinner on Friday evening. Poppy came over and started work on his present for Annie--a sandbox! Annie helped him by handing him his hammer. :)

Annie's cake :)

We talked to GramE and Glen and Nicole online! All the kids were trying to join in. :)

Then it came time to blow out the candles!

and open presents!

we ate yummy fried chicken, strawberry salad, biscuits, and sweet potato fries!

When everyone had gone home, I went looking for Annie and her grandparents. I found them out back in the pitch dark, sitting in the sandbox! :)

The next morning, things didn't slow down, not even a bit! We woke up and played in the morning sunshine with another present--a pretend kitchen set . . . 

Then we all headed down to Gettysburg to drop Annie off at my parents' for the day, so we could go down to Baltimore for my friend Stacey's wedding. We took a few pictures because it was SUCH a gorgeous September day!

Then the wedding! They had champagne with bubble-covered raspberries :)

The happy couple!

Dancing the night away (almost--I don't last quite as long as I used to!) It was so fun to see so many old friends!

THEN on Sunday, my whole family came up for a dinner at our house. We ate apricot-herb pork and then enjoyed a nice porch-settin'. (after some rousing games of kubb, of course)

When the sun went down, we pulled out Beatles Rock Band, which Thomas and Caroline had brought up from Virginia. So much fun!!

Today, Labor Day, marked the Ellsworths' second annual trip to Kipona, Harrisburg's downtown festival! And that means canoe races!!! We got there nice and early to register and enjoy the chilly morning on the river.

Then friends joined us! Yay!

And they're off! Brant and Spencer (canoe #5) raced in the same doubles heat as Tim & Heather and Scott & Nancy. 

There's Tim and Heather!

Brant and Spencer won! First place over all in the novice class!

Annie dumped water all over herself so she spent some part of the day pantsless . . .

Then on to more races! Scott and Nancy . . . 

And the 4-person war canoe! This one was exciting. There's Brant, Tim, Spencer, and Heather heading out!

And they tipped!!

 . . . but came home strong! :)

 . . .  and so wet!

We celebrated the day by finishing off with a lunch at the top of Harrisburg hospital. This is a special place for us, since Annie was born at this hospital, and we just really love the view! Annie, however, doesn't remember anything about the lunch . . .

Happy Labor Day! Have a sunny week!