ohio

the paris' didn't do their traditional trip down to destin florida this year. so bryan's immediate family decided we still needed to get away. we rented cabins in hocking hills, ohio -a very beautiful state park. we hiked, made some awesome meals, kayaked, swam in lakes & pools, fed hummingbirds & played with the kids.

there was no phone coverage & no wireless. kinda like my favorite place in the world, silver bay. although melissa & i did escape into "town" one afternoon to send a few emails.

it was very relaxing & fun. it was the most time the kids have gotten to spend together so far, which was really nice. it's really funny to see how different they are. finn is wild compared to them. probably compared to almost anyone really. he's so active, loud & funny. gabe & evelyn are more calm, quiet & inquisitive. by the end of the week they were sortof playing together!

we arrived a little later than hoped on sunday evening. they were just finishing dinner.

the next morning we got up & hiked our first hike together.

here's our evie.

dancing in the falls.

freezing in the falls.

the paris'. (all but our two dogs.)

sweet almost walking gabe.

:)


finn's like "comeon' it's velcro. want me to show you how to do it?" tehee.
these two LOVE reading. finn went through a week not having the attention span & now he's back to that's all he wants to do.
crazy morning hair.


grandpa ron & evelyn in a cave.


jody & gabe.

lost.

i love our picture like this- so i forced them to take one too.
finn loved feeling the breeze... our windows have been sealed shut for months!



how cool is this tree's trunks?

melissa. i loved this tree.

melissa & finn on the cool bridge.
finn & daddy wanted to race & we gave finn a little head start.
so thirsty!
the nature preserve was my favorite. we didn't get to go very far because we had finn in the stroller but it was beautiful. & peaceful. it started raining while we were in there but the trees protected us so we could only hear it.
two out of three conked out. bryan was too excited to focus but that's me feeding a HUMMINGBIRD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
it was the coolest, coolest, coolest feeling. ron got to as well. the state parks nature center has been feeding them for a few years- from 1-3 people come every day & sit there with this little tube of sugar water. if you're patient enough they'll come feed from it. i was on a high the rest of the day!

ron being patient... they're buzzing around him.
you can barely see his bird, but he's there... feeding. they're tongue flickers 3 to 4 times a second- it was so neat to see for real up close.
this, in all honestly, is why bryan probably didn't have a willing hummingbird.
so they watched turtles instead.

after feeding the hummingbirds we met up with everyone at the lake. we all regretted leaving this for the last day- if felt so nice, even the fish nipping on ya. come to think of it only ron & i felt the fish nipping. we're also the only ones cool enough to have fed a hummingbird. ron- we're just one with nature.
gabe is obsessed with grandpa ron. he prefers him to almost anyone- it's pretty cute.
my sweet, rambunctious boy.
we left pretty early on friday afternoon. bryan had a 4pm flight to catch out of dayton. he was heading to boulder, colorado for colorado cup- an ultimate tournament. finn & i went last year, but this year we were heading to santa fe, new mexico for my friend lauren's wedding & to visit with stan & sarah-anne & their two boys. bryan had a great time & sprawl won their bracket in the tournament!!! congrats guys! sorry we missed that :)

we stayed the night at neil & jody's because our flight wasn't until 6am. neil loves me for that one. here's eve & finn playing in their pool. they were doing great together until melissa yelled in for me- "finn pooped in the pool" -gross.


great week. a little warm, but lots of fun spending so much, uninterrupted time with family.