...and yes, the nickel came out

...nothing like a little suspense for a few months!

So: Con's added me to the family blog. Remy passed the nickel 3.5 days later--some fun poop-digging, that.

May/June: cousin time, much fun was had with lots of time with K/A and kids. We're still talking about it! This is a Lakeport pic:

June/July: I traveled a little, Con worked a *ton*--so I took the kids and we did our first solo car trip all the way to mom and dad's place. We were there over the 4th and had a ball--a day at the Oregon coast (where it was actually warm enough to go in the water. In a swimsuit. Amazing!), a small-town 4th parade, dinner with Hamiltoes, and an afternoon of...kid-free shopping. Ahhh....

I brought mom back with us and she was here for 10 days or so. In that time I had a 2-day trip, so it was great she was here. Unfortunately it was the hottest part of the summer and she melted! :( The kids loved the extended gramma/grampa, and then gramma, time.

Con started the porch project then. It's almost done now--just needs a few finishing touches--and we like it. It's a nice outdoor space--nicer than our indoor spaces :) I wish I had another month and I'd paint the whole house inside--ah well.

August: we went boating with Spam and Banana and co., which was tons of fun. This last weekend we cleaned and cleaned on Saturday and then had Vogts over for swimming and dinner. That afternoon, Remy *finally* ventured off the second step (we've been going every day for the whole summer. Good night.) He went from clutching the step to asking me to "throw him to the sky!"....so that was major progress! Yesterday afternoon at Karl and Sonja's, after union mtg., Siena decided to ride a bike on her own. Another big breakthrough! Wow!

More coming...

(by Heidi)