Poconos in the Sun

Tightly around her waist, but without the arms. I figured it had to be effective for at least keeping her on the surface long enough for us to grab her, right? I’m glad we didn’t have to find out. We were, of course, very careful out on the dock with her, regardless of what kind of “safety device” she was wearing. Anyway, so that explains the weird looking floatie on my kid for all of the upcoming fishing pictures. :)

My brother had a little kids’ fishing pole for Hunter, so Hunter and Nora took turns catching fish. With a lot of adult assistance, of course.

I didn’t know that Nora would be all that into it, but surprisingly, she was. She had no problems standing and/or sitting there while we waited to catch a fish—as long as she could be involved in reeling in the line. I taught her to watch the little red and white bobber and she was happy to do so. Adorable!

I love the way Nora is looking at the fish in this pic. She was really curious about them! (Oh, and by the way: It’s a catch-and-release pond. We let all of them go!)

Tyler was teaching the kids about the different parts of the fish. The scales, the eyes, the sharp fins on top. Each of them took a turn touching it. Again, I was surprised Nora was into it!

We eventually called an end to fishing and went back up to the house for some lunch. We put the kids down for naps, and we relaxed outside in the sunshine. Nora took a long nap this day—must’ve really needed it, and maybe she was worn out from all of that fresh air and fishing!

Once the kids were up again, I set them up with a little outdoor art project. A long sheet of paper off of a roll, and a bunch of (washable!) Crayola paints and brushes.

Bryce eventually got in on the action, too. I tried to put the paint brush in his hand, but instead he tried to take it in his mouth! Goofball.

While it was nice out and we still had everyone in the same place, we decided to get our annual group photo out of the way. We often leave this task until the last morning, and it’s always chaos as everyone is trying to pack up and leave. Smart thinking this year!

After dinner that night, we all headed back outside for a fire in the firepit.

A weekend in the mountains wouldn’t be complete without s’mores! And of course, our sweets-loving girl was thrilled with this special treat.

My mom asked Nora if she could have a bite and SHOCKINGLY, Nora said yes and let her have it!

Nora and Hunter were ALL over Michael after the s’mores. They had a lot of fun running around playing with him before we finally had to put it to an end and call it bathtime/bedtime. The weekend was full of so much fun and joy. Nora had an absolute blast, and it was really amazing for us to see. I have all of these memories of being a kid and spending time in the Poconos with all of these friends and family… and Nora will have those memories, too. It’s very special to me. Now, it’s only a shame that we have to wait another year to do it again.

Well, sort of. Susan’s daughter, Nina, is getting married in September so we get to go up to watch her get married in the Poconos, too! It won’t be the same—we won’t be staying at their house, but getting our own rental. And obviously they’ll have a ton of guests, so other friends/family in town to worry about. But still, something to look forward to.

Until next year… when we have two more kiddos to add to the mix! Our baby, and Trevor and Kara’s new little one (due in October, have I mentioned that??), too!