First haircut!

Mister's hair was getting unruly, so we finally took him for a haircut. He knew something was up.





At first he was really still and curious.



And for a good couple of minutes things went really well.





Then he got the reachy grabbies.





The lollipop bought us a few minutes, but shortly after this was taken he decided that he was done. He just started to get down off my lap and wasn't thrilled when I wouldn't let him. There were some tears, but I guess it wasn't that bad.



Then we had some pizza in the food court and introduced him to the train. He loved it. LOVED it.



Was smiling and pointing and talking the entire time. Sooooo cute.



But then the train stopped.

And things went south very quickly.

The lady unbuckled him and he pushed her away and said, "NOOO!" Then he attempted to re-buckle his seat belt for some more fun. When I tried to pick him up he threw an absolute fit. Oh my.

Craig immediately escorted him out of the mall, kicking and screaming and Ella leans over and whispers, "people are looking at us." No kidding.

For the record, we began giving him discipline many months ago. He is immediately escorted to time out when he misbehaves, and he usually does pretty well. But he's still a young toddler, and doesn't quite understand why good things have to end and to be honest, I'm not even sure how you teach that concept.

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Vacation (9)

This was our trip to Swallow Falls State Park, and he we are again with dad setting up the image. I know he will try to blame me, but have you ever seen me take a picture of this quality? Have mercy. Apparently, I need to re-visit my lesson plan.


Mister was a little frightened by the noise of the waterfall.


But he adjusted after a few minutes.


This had to be the most asinine thing I have ever seen. These teenagers were jumping and diving off the top of that waterfall into very rocky and dangerous water. It may look benign from the picture, but the current was strong. It was too loud to speak to them, but given the chance I may have asked what they would have done if one of their friends did not resurface after diving into the water. I think I mentioned that our friend Doug is the retired Park Ranger for Ohiopyle, he knows all too well about deaths in the Youghiogheny.


The sunset was really pretty through the trees, so I was attempting to get a nice silhouette of my parents. But do you notice the extra little person in the frame?


My girl and I.


Whew, I am finally caught up with vacation pictures! Still need to blog our trip to Living Treasures and Boy Boy's first hair cut. Need.more.time.

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Vacation (8)

Our lake front home had a hot tub with a beautiful view, so every evening we would grab some drinks and head out to the "party deck." It became a tradition, an integral part of our day, so I wanted to dad to take a few photographs of us having a good time.

He took several, and this is the best one. Geesh. You should see the rest.


ps. This should eliminate any confusion as to whether or not it is the camera or the operator that takes good pictures. He was using a perfectly good Canon 30D.

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Vacation (7)

My husband has a need for speed, so one afternoon we rented a jet ski. Ella was skeptical at first, but she had a blast after we got going.


The old man liked it.




And even ma took a turn.




Dad was working on his homework assignment (did I mention that he and ma took my photography class at the college?). In this particular image he was attempting the rule of thirds, and he uncluttered his background by changing his angle.

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Vacation (6)

On Thursday we had more visitors, Doug and Alice and their two granddaughters stopped by for some fun.


Mister loves being a big kid.


These treats were purchased from the yummy yacht, the lake version of an ice cream truck. Funny.

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Vacation (5)

The lake was COLD, but that, along with the ever-looming threat of bleaches, did not stop Ella from playing in the water.

She kept asking, "Mommy, are you sure there aren't any bleaches in here?" I'm pretty sure she meant leeches, but it is one of those words that is too cute to correct. Someday I might tell her. Or, I'll just send her off to college believing that bleaches live in the water and suck your blood.


ps. She has heard several leech stories from us sitting around the camp fire at great-grandma's. We used to get them in between our toes from playing in the crick. Afterward, we would all sit on a bench and dad would check our toes.

pps. Yes, we call it a crick, even though the "proper" (rolling eyes) term is creek. When Uncle Brian first visited Craig in PA, he couldn't get over this... kept telling us that a crick is something you get in your neck. But we have a sign. Which makes it official.


ppps. I think we used salt and/or a flame to remove the leeches. Either way, it wasn't exactly a desirable situation.

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Vacation (4)

Next morning, back on the boat.


Mister took a nap almost every single morning on the boat. Why, you ask? BECAUSE HE DIDN'T SLEEP AT NIGHT!

JP thought a snooze sounded nice as well.

Looks like a very serious conversation, although I don't recall the subject matter.

Mister was very proud of his ability to climb up on the cooler. (Attn: CYS, the boat was docked and we were disembarking, that's why he wasn't wearing a life vest).


Attn: CYS, this father was indeed about to throw his baby in the water.


But he liked it.
Pretty view from the deck of the house.

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Vacation (3)

On Tuesday, we had some visitors.

Rachel, John and John Patrick joined us for some fun. It's always fascinating how Ella loves to take care of toddlers: play with them, feed them, show them around, with the exception of her brother.





Mister loved to throw rocks in the water and proclaim, "WEEEEEEE!"


We took a sunset cruise over to a restaurant.

JP immediately loved the boat.


So cute how he was looking at Craig.

There is a Pizzeria Uno with a dock and playground on the lake.








These two were so cute having dinner together, almost like regular people.


And JP was even willing to share.






Look at Boy Boy's face compared to JP. My boy is a mess.


Just hanging out, playing some unorganized games.

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