Kimball's in the UK

The kids and I are back from a week and a half at the lake. We went to all of our favorite places .... the farmer's market, story hour at the library, blueberry picking, breakfast by the lake, all the kids' favorite parks, carriage and tractor rides, and a trip to Swallow Falls, one of my favorite places as a child.

I rarely took the camera out on our adventures since my hands were already full.

This beautiful photo was not taken by me, click for credit :)

Kathleen and I and our six kids walked the trail late one afternoon. I spent most of my time pulling Jackson and Mathis off the edge of the high rocks that hung out over the river. Whew, it was pretty stressful, but the kids had a blast. As we neared the end of the trail, we were surprised by a thunderstorm. We made it to a pavilion in a clearing, but not before we were all drenched and the kids were hysterical. It was quite an adventure! And a picture to prove it ... This was after we arrived back at the cabin and the kids had recovered :)


We've spent so many great times at the lake over the years. At every turn I was reminded of another memory all the way back to before Bard and I were married. It started me thinking about all the goodbyes we have to say. I wish we could skip over that part and arrive in England without all the sadness of leaving.

I managed to snap a few random photos along the way ...

I found these at a yard sale and Mathis was delighted!

It was so funny to watch him trying them out in the four inches of water in the pool.


He spent a blissful few hours out there, enjoying the adventures of snorkeling :)


These are a few of my favorites ... not great pictures, but good memories. I pretended to take pictures of the kids while actually snapping this one of my mom taking pictures of the kids. Isn't she cute?



Mom taking the little guys for a walk. You can locate my kids by their various states of dress and undress. Kate's wearing her nightgown and the boys are getting by in just their t-shirts. Hey, it was all about survival!


Trying to get a picture of these four boys was as challenging as trying to chase the chipmunk out of the house .... never dull, for sure! They just never sit still. When Jackson saw this picture he said, "can you get rid of that bluster around Mathis?" Hmm, that would be nice, wouldn't it?


While we were at the lake, Bard was busy at the house, constructing and deconstructing :) I'll be back with pictures of that later. It actually made me a little sad that we'll be leaving, because the house is getting so much closer to being finished.

We've been at a hotel for a couple of days and are packing up (again!) and staying the next week at our friends' house while they are on vacation. It will be so nice for the kids to be able to have room to run and be wild. It's crazy hot here ... heat index today, 117 degrees. And in jolly old England, the town of Cheltenham is forecasting a high of 66 degrees today :)