Jankers

It’s now Sept and that means back to school. I can’t believe the summer has gone by so quickly…and we forgot to update our blog! So let’s see if I can quickly summarize.

For Father’s day, Aunt Kelly threw a party at her place with a pool!

Late in June, Nora started her second swim lesson class at the YMCA. This class was Thursday evenings so I got to take her. I don’t have any pictures but Nora had a great time practicing reach-and-pull, kicking and jumping in from the side…into my arms. The grand finale was the last class when Nora put on a life jacket (without complaining) and proceeded to doggie paddle around all by herself! I was so proud.

For the 4th of July we went to the Oreland Parade. Here’s Nora and her friend Ben waiting for the candy to be thrown their way.

Mark and Mari also stopped by for a brief visit.

Then Alicia took a much needed vacation with her friends…to Turkey!

Fortunately Colleen was able to come and help me with the kids.

Colleen helping out also allowed me to sneak out and do a few mountain bike races

One Saturday we spent the afternoon hanging out with a friend of mine from work who has a son one day younger than Nora. The kids had a blast playing on their gigantic climbing wall and slide…even Levi – if someone could give him a boost!

In August we went to Bethany Beach, DE for the annual Rogers vacation. We spent a week lounging at the beach,

playing in the water,

cruising the local boardwalks…

… with breaks for ice cream

and taking in a few amusement rides

and local parks.

Here’s the whole clan.

Labor Day weekend we started another project – installing patio pavers in place of the Holly bush adjacent to our front door. Here I am laying the weed barrier.

For the holiday, Gram and Grandpop had us over for a BBQ and the kids got to enjoy the backyard play area.

And that leads us to today, Nora’s first day back at nursery school.

But I’ll leave you with a funny picture. We found if the kids are really full of energy we can setup our homemade version of a bouncy toy and let them leap from the couch. As you can see Nora just loves it.

As usual, sorry it’s been so long since we’ve posted. As the kids get older they get to be more and more fun and it’s tough to find the time to write. Plus, work for me is going well – we are looking into new technologies so some evenings I’m doing a little extra work from home to stay on top of things.

For Levi’s first birthday, we decided to try camping again. We used to car camp a lot but we’ve only gone once with Nora. It’s a lot more work to pack for the kids and deal with their sleeping or not sleeping arrangements. But we still enjoy it and want to get the kids to enjoy it, so we just gotta do it.

Overall, it went well. Nora and Levi stayed up a little later due to the evening light and woke up a little early due to the birds…but that’s camping.
Nora modeling her tent

Fruitless attempt at trying to get Levi to nap in 85 degree weather.

It was kinda lame that our site was mostly gravel but then again, I’m sure it’s easier to brush off gravel then mud. Levi spent his time cruising around with his ‘walker’.

Out on a hike

The family even came out to celebrate with us and watch Levi have his first cake and frosting!

But it was hot and the sugar crash came quickly.

However, he perked right up when we took him to the public bath, a.k.a. campground water station!

On another note, I’ve also made progress on our wainscotting in the kitchen…finally! It’s all installed now, just need to fill the nail holes and paint.

But the biggest news is still Levi’s walking. He usually just takes a few steps then switches to the faster crawling, but he can walk. Today I had his milk cup and he walked across the room to get it, smiling the whole way. Here’s an early clip.

Speaking of milk…now that he’s a year old, he’s trying even more new foods. He loves milk, which is great. He does really well with most types of bread too, which is very convenient. Now we need to work getting him to hold his own spoon.

Oh wait, I forgot the biggest news…Nora is officially potty trained! Boy is it nice. A lot less diapers to wash and no more lifting her up to her changing table! She’s adorable with her new underwear.

She’s also really proud of herself. Our upstairs toilet is a little lower and she is so happy to climb up and straddle, not even bothering to use the little Elmo booster.