Olivia week-October 13 to 17.

So the driving force behind our college reunion was that miss Leah had a conference to attend in Asheville.With Mister Josh traveling for work, we offered to keep Olivia for the week.

And these two were pleased as punch.

They had the best time playing and being loud.  And Olivia really enjoyed being having some temporary brothers and sisters.  Though there were a few times that it showed she was an only child.  When there's only one of you, your mom and dad are more likely to do thing for you.  Poor Olivia had to fend for herself much more as one of five kids. 

We celebrated Bea's 6 month birthday with a half eaten pie and a very rousing round of "Happy Birthday."  Here's our 4 goofs.

 And here's the full shot with Olivia missing her nice, quiet house and undivided attention.

 

Miss Leah brought down this totally ridiculous alicorn costume for the girls. June thought it was hilarious.

"Look, I'm flying!"

June's teacher sent home a binder of ideas the kids can use for homework every week.  This week, June wrote her spelling words on the magna doodle and calculated scrabble scores for each word.  Does that mean it counts for speeling AND math?

The weather was great, so we spent many afternoons picnicking at the park.

Unfortunately, one day Georgie was chasing Olivia and decided to stop using only her face.  It didn't seem so bad at the park, but her scrape got worse and worse as the day went on.  It took almost two months for this one to fade.

Grams and I took the girls to try out the frozen yogurt place.  They approved.

As did little Bea, who thought I should have shared more.

When our week with Olivia was up, we headed out to meet Miss Leah.  We decided to meet at a popular orchard.  Little did we know that the local schools were off for the day, so it was packed!

 Determined to get the real orchard experience, we had to walk a half mile to find any trees that still had apples.

But we did eventually find a few apples.

 It was pretty warm- in the 70s. But Georgie would not take off her sweatshirt.  And her basket was REALLY heavy.  And it was too far too walk, mama.

Really, all the kids wanted to do was play on the playground equipment anyway. 

 I even stood in line for a half hour to get the famous apple cider doughnuts.  Olivia gave them a thumbs up. They were pretty good, as any fresh doughnut would be, but I don't know if they were worth a half hour. 

We'll sure miss having Olivia around!

Thanks for sharing her with us!

After her week of fun, Georgie was pretty beat.  We stopped at a neighbor's house after we got back into town.  Georgie climbed into the treehouse and sat with a kitty for a half hour. 

Greenville Zoo-October 13.

Colleen and the boys had to head back home, but on the way out of town, we stopped in at the Greenville Zoo. 

It was actually a ton of fun- even with 6 kids under 6.

It helps that Owen and Logan will do anything Connor does.

And all of the animals were out and active- which made for even more fun.

It was really great when the orangutan came right up to the glass.

He seems to be pretty used to seeing people.

And the closest we're going to get to a picture of Colleen and I.

Did we mention that Grams is in town too?  She had to come see this big girl!

Friends and food!- October 11.

Papa took a trip to Providence, RI to visit the 601 guys and run a marathon.  Back home, we had our own fun.  My college roommates, Leah and Colleen, came in from Rockville and Cincinnati for the weekend.

It was everyone's first time to see Bea.  Here's Colleen with Bea and her babies, Owen and Logan.

June and Connor really hit it off. They spent hours playing with Legos.

Georgie was so happy to have her Olivia back with her.

And they are both much more enjoyable at 4 than they were at 2. 

This is the closest thing we got to a group shot of the whole group.  I guess we forgot about that in all of the craziness of the weekend.

At 6 months, we've let Bea chew on many foods, but haven't officially given her anything to eat.  She has spent many a playdate gnawing away on a carrot or celery stick (her favorite).  She's also been known to suck on a pizza crust. 

Part of it may be that I'm proud of myself for finally producing enough milk to sustain a child past 5 month- when I've had to start supplementing with formula with all the other kids.  The other part is pure laziness.  It's much easier to hand a baby a carrot stick than to deal with messy baby food.

But it's safe to say that Bea really enjoyed her first bites of oatmeal.

It's so good!

More!

 

Here's video that Henry took of the event- with much talk of my beloved phablet.

With a full belly, Bea was content to play on the floor for a little while and take in the madness of our house of 8 kids.

 

And even rolled a little- with much prompting.

"Hey mom, now that I eat real food can I have some of your Cookout milkshake?"

Almost sitting and field trips- October 6 to 9 and a few stragglers.

You know I'm a sentimental dresser.  Bea had her striped jammies on and I was compelled to find my favorite picture of Evie with Henry as a baby.  That was a long time ago in Minnesota!

Even more bizarre, how did Bea get herself back to her GG's lap in 1982?  She certainly is a minature Brandon.

Back in the present, we've decided to give cloth diapering a try.  Cloth diapers have really come a long way.  Even from when Henry was a baby.  It's so easy now.  And there are even cute diapers with mustaches on them!

And diapers with tiger stripes (obviously) for when you want to terrorize your big sister and her friend Isabel when they are paying fairies.

I got to visit the Brooks Center with June again- this time by school bus.

I was wrong last time. This performance was Junie B. Jones.  The last performance was a ballet.  (How lucky are we to have morning fine arts programming geared especially for kids?)

After the show, we (and 150 other kids matching shirts) headed to the playground for lunch and some fun.  June immediately found Maddie.

I love this girl.

June and her new friend Chila- who was recently adopted from Ukraine with her brother and sister.  

Lewis and Andy.

Quinn and Laurel.

June's rowdy class.

Georgie wasn't the only one having fun.  Her friend Aubrey requested a birthday playdate at Chuck E. Cheese with Georgie.  And her parents agreed.  You guys are saints.  I bet that was one loud hour long car ride in a small car with Marion, Jo, and Aubrey.

Bea is really close to sitting.  So close that I can sit her up and almost get a picture of it before she falls over.

At least you get a good view of those chunky thighs when she tips over.

Soon, little girl!