Garden Trail

Grammy and I took the kids to Clemson University to visit the Botanical Gardens there. We somehow missed the parking lot right at the front, and ended up parking near the back where the hiking trail through the woods is, not the nice pavered trail through the gardens.

So, by the time we figured out where we were and made our way through the woods to the duck pond, we were a hot, tired bunch.

Evan not only absolutely refused to get in the jogging stroller, if you set him down he wanted to go the opposite way of where you were trying to go! So he had to be carried the entire way.

Finally, some shade in the hosta gardens

The caboose was the highlight of the boys' day!

The A/C at Chick-fil-A was ours!

Visitors

My aunt and uncle were babysitting their 'grand-dogs' and brought them over for a swim and ride on their boat. Evan is such an animal lover, but especially for dogs! Instead of just saying 'dog', he sticks out his tongue and pants whenever he sees one.

Evan was happily feeding himself, the dogs, and anyone else who wanted a cracker

With Callie

He LOVES getting kisses and licks from dogs!

I'm sure Nala LOVED getting crackers from Evan!

The landscaper came over for a swim with his 4 boys who are almost exactly the same age as our kids (11, 8, 6, and 18 mos)

They're trying to catch fish in the buckets, with the favorite dock fish food--cheesy puffs!

We also spent some time this week with my cousin and her family, but sadly ended up with no pictures! Marian and Aidan loved hanging out with Emily, Joe, and Stevie, while Brennan had a great time with their Uncle Bob (also my cousin) and the water guns!

A Day in the Woods

We took Marian, Aidan, and Brennan for a hike that we though would end at a waterfall. It eventually did...

We started at a lookout point inside Duke Energy land.

Drove to a trailhead and made our lonely way through the forest.

Just as we reached the creek, we finally ran into some other people, who hike the trail every week in their retirement, to take note of what needs to be taken care of along the trail (fallen trees, etc). They told us the easy way to get to the waterfall, thank goodness!
Which is to hike the one mile back to the car, drive another mile or 2 up the road, and take the paved path 1/4 mile up the hill to the waterfall lookout!

Aha! This was a much more populated place!

Whitewater Falls in North Carolina

Aidan nearly got carsick on the way home from here. Too many windy roads for this Houston-native!

The Pool

Brennan kept calling the lake "the pool" or "the pond". Whatever we called it, he LOVED to go swim in it! He was always ready for a dip, even if no one else was.

So, Evy wasn't a big fan of the life preserver and this was the only day he wore it. Too much bulk around the neck for him to be able to do anything.
Thomas rented a kayak for the day from the marina to see how the kids could handle it.

Aidan got the first turn

Brennan dubbed that island behind Aidan "Mystery Island" (a "Word World" reference, I believe)

Brennan's turn!

A highlight of his trip, for sure!

The island way off to the left, Brenan later named that "Rainbow Island" for the rainbow we saw over it one drizzly evening.

Evan definitely preferred playing on the beach rather than floating in the water, but by the end of the trip, would tolerate it for long periods.

Brennan really loved being in the middle of a waterfight.

Marian's turn at last.

The kids both did well manuevering the boat (once they got the hang of it).

Trekker

Not Trekkie, with the V-shaped hand--trekker, as in adventurer. Evan loves to be outside, walking through the woods if possible. Too bad no one else likes to be out in the heat with him right now!

Part of the driveway gets steep, so he'd get partway up, then start the bear walk. On the way down, he'd sit down and scoot, obviously waiting for the sliding motion to happen, then scoot a little more, pause again...

Brennan and Aidan on their way next door in search of a lighter for Aidan's bday candles.

Loved hanging out in the fireplace, of course.

Aidan's 8th

Aidan and Marian had made cupcake cones at a cooking camp in June, so they decided that was what they wanted to have for Aidan's birthday celebration.

Evan thought they were yummy!

Aidan had just gotten over his fear of falling off a bike right before we left, so we didn't want hime to lose any momentum on that. He was needing to move up to a bigger bike anyway, so we got one in South Carolina, for him to keep practicing his skills. Grammy and Gramps brought it back to Houston with them, since they were going to be driving back anyway.

Silly String Attack

For fun for Aidan's birthday, everyone got a can of silly string to attack each other with. While Aidan wasn't a big fan of it to begin with, Marian and Brennan enjoyed every moment of it!

Brennan wasn't so good at the attack part (his finger wasn't strong enough) but he loved being the recipient!

Then we jumped in the lake to get it all off