A Week at the Beach

Well, suffice it to say that I am way behind on my posts. The Hartings clan headed to the Outer Banks back in July for a fabulous week of sun, sand, surf, and sensational cocktail hours! All of the kids loved the beach--they were fearless in the water and spent hours making sand castles and sand dinosaurs (Claire's favorite!)

Happy Birthday, Jack!

There were no storms knocking out power today to commemorate Jack's dramatic birth...and that was a good thing. Instead, we had a nice rainfall around three to clear out a little humidity, followed by a quiet family party at home. Jack was delighted with his new trucks and his push mower...at least whenever he could wrest them from his sisters!

The girls insisted that Jack wanted a spaceship cake (to match his bedroom), so that's what we made. Kaitlyn even decorated mini Nilla wafers to look like Jack, Claire and her, as well as a nice green Martian. In about five minutes flat, Jack had a third of the cake eaten! Kaitlyn ate her fair share, too, and Claire did some major damage on the icing. All in all, we'll call it a success!

Fun Times in Piqua

The kids and I had a fun week with Grandma and Grandpa Hartings in Piqua, Ohio. Poor Matt had to return to DC to work, but we got to spend five more days exploring and picnicking in the great outdoors, splashing in the town pool, petting the goats and sampling fired cheese curds at Young's Jersey Dairy, and...riding an elephant (at least the girls did!) And I got to see Marie and Megan! Thanks for a great time!

Birthday Wonderfulness

Matt and the kids put on a fantastic birthday celebration for me. I started my day with 5 a.m. snuggles from all of the kids, followed by Matt's announcement that he planned to stay home for the day to play and prepare a six-course dinner! Can't beat that! We ate salad, chilled crab and avocado, lemon basil sorbet, steak florentine with roasted asparagus, more sorbet, and homemade chocolate mousse cake. Divine! Thanks for all of the birthday calls and well wishes. I felt truly loved!

O-H-I-O

We had a blast in Canfield with Grandma and Grandpa Kneen. We spent the week eating ice cream every day (sometimes twice!), splashing in the little pool and swimming in the big one, building sand castles out back, tearing across the front yard in borrowed wheels, and terrorizing poor Charlie and Gracie! I was delighted to get out shopping with Mom, while the girls were browsing books with Papa at the library, and the trip to White House was a highlight. Good times, good family. Thanks for a great visit!

Going to See G.G.

The kids and I took a trip to Ohio this week to see Grandma and Papa Kneen, and this Tuesday, we went to have lunch with G. G. Kneen. We had a great time playing with all of her toys, reading stories together, . . . and trying desperately to get a decent picture of the three kids together! Thank you, Grandma, for a wonderful visit!