Hathaway update

Here's Hathaway in the cute outfit from Aunt Cherie. She had her appointment at CHOP yesterday to look at her leg. She has a vascular malformation. Now she needs to have an MRI to evaluate what exactly is going on in the blood vessel. Then we can decide what needs to happen next.

Tessa first full day

Tessa had her first whole day of preschool and absolutely loved it. I think she was made for school. Below she is with her friend before they go in the first day. (Also, can you see that Tessa has a little bit of a black eye? That would be from her and Oakley batting each other with bats--which was quickly outlawed.)

First Day of School

So, it's official; school has started. Oakley started 1st grade and Tessa had her meet the teacher day for preschool. They both seem ready and happy for the new year.

For Labor Day we went on one of our favorite hikes, to Bald Pate Mountain. Amy Beth was visiting and we had a fun hike. Oakley took the picture below of the view at the top. Then we came home and had hamburgers and homemade almond cream cheese ice cream (yum).

The Last Hurrah

Before school started, Lisa and I took all the kids up to the Poconos for a few days. It wasnt that long of a drive and it was really beautiful there. The kids were in heaven with lots of rocks and water and outdoors to explore. We did a pretty big hike up to some waterfalls and Tessa did pretty much all of it by herself. Oakley has become a little mountain goat and it a great hiker. We really had fun--thanks Lisa.

Summer Fun

I thought that I should put up a few pictures from things we have been doing this summer. We have had fun and are not sure where the time has gone...school is in 2 weeks.

We went on a little family vacation to the Berkshires in Western Mass. We rented a little house on a lake and had a fun time. Here we are on the top of the highest peak in MA, Mount Greylock. We drove up and then did some hiking.

There were lots of lakes for swimming and playing.

Oakley was a great little hiker.

Oakley and Bryce had a great time fishing off the dock at the end of our yard. They caught several of these little guys.

We jointed the community pool in our area and have enjoyed swimming almost every day. Oakley has become a great swimmer and can even go in the deep end now. Tessa has become more confident in the water and even Hathaway has liked splashing around.

Below are a few more pictures of our vacation in West Virginia with the Smith Family.

Dancing.

Bryce went hiking with some of the guys at Dolly Sods.

We hiked to Blackwater Falls.

Family vacation

We had a great family vacation with my family in West Virginia. It was a beautiful area and the house was great (each family had 2 bedrooms). The cousins had a great time playing together. Here are a few photos.