Loves his food......what's your favorite????

When I had Cooper I was informed that you don't give them any food until 6 months now. I am always amazed how things change from baby to baby as all my others had it by 4 months. So here we are at 5 1/2 months and Cooper will lunge at any food he is close to so I decided to just give him rice cereal. Is two weeks early really going to make a huge difference???? I don't think so. Needless to say he LOVED his food.......he has had it twice now and pretty much freaks out when you aren't giving it to him fast enough or when he is done. It's quite funny!!! I'm glad that my kids love to eat.......they are getting a little more picky as they can voice what they like and don't like but usually they don't get too much choice if it's a supper meal......they get to eat it whether they want to or not. Sarah is my best eater......she loves all the ethnic foods we try around this place......it's hit and miss with the others sometimes!! With school going back in I need to get back into routine of "real meals'. So what's your favorite??? I need some new dishes to try!!!!

Overflowing.....

Going in for more....

Love that the big kids help out.....

Hasn't realized we are done yet......

A week in the woods....

I'm still unpacking.....yep....still ....and we got home on Friday. Did I mention how much I hate unpacking and all the laundry that comes with it??? UGH!!! We headed off to Keji for the week with all the kiddies in tow. The weather was nothing short of amazing. Not a drop of rain but insanely hot. We lived on Slapfoot Beach most of the time and did the occasional hike but the bugs were pretty hungry this year so not too many walks!!! We got to see our friends the Buxtons when we got there on Friday. Jessica and Sarah had a blast riding bikes with Brooklyn. It's too bad that someone had to go home to start school........it would have been fun to have them stick around for a couple more days. So to make this not the longest post ever here are the highlights of the week.......

• A raccoon RIPPING in our second tent the first night we were there........he made away with some Pringle Sticks as we found the wrapper by our tent at 1:00am......fun stuff!!!
• Seeing lots of friends and family........Buxtons.....Mike, Keah & Cousin Annie came for a day and Mom & Laura made it for an overnight adventure!!!
• Jeff and Peter got to go on an early (6:00am) paddle and had a blast!!!
• Ice Creams at Merrymakedge Beach.....so yummy and soooooo big.......we stuck to baby size....they were 2 scoops!!
• Watching Georgia on the playground.......we never saw her......she lived on the swings. It was awesome!!!
• Bike riding.......the kids all got rid of training wheels earlier this summer so biking "the block" at Keji was so much more fun for them. Many times Jacob even did the "BIG block"
• Campfires and smores.......lots of those......maybe a few too many but they were yummy!
• Lots of paddle time......kayaking and canoeing
• Wildlife.......raccoons, deer, porcupines, frogs, turtles & chipmunks
• Cooper cutting tooth #2
  

I'm sure I could think of more but the brain just isn't working today. The kids had a fun week with their cousins and I had a nice week of my kids getting along........people think we are crazy taking all 5 kids camping in a tent but it's the best. They are so busy with bikes, playground, swimming etc. that they have no time to fight......and no electronics to fight over. I love it!!!! We are still on the fence at this point of whether or not a Thanksgiving trip will happen.......time will tell.....





Our first night at the beach.....






A morning hike with the Buxtons





Cooper all smiles......



Georgia adopted Abigail's giraffe....until they had a fight....



Jeff & Peter after their paddle.......



All the cousins...Cooper was asleep in the backpack....



Mills Falls......pretty calm compared to April....


All 7 of us in the canoe.....


A little frog friend.....



Jeff chowing down on some ice cream



Coming back in from a paddle

Cousins in town......

August is eXciTinG as all my cousins are coming in town for a visit. Suzie was the first into town, arriving late Tuesday night so the kids and I ducked out to my Aunt's to visit her and the gang on Wednesday afternoon. We took the kids to the playground where they got to burn off some energy and have fun together. We are having a big get together at my Uncle's on Saturday and I can't wait to see everyone else. I'm in the process of getting stuff geared together for camping next week.....the kids are super excited to go.....I'll be excited once we are there and all set up.....it's alot of work to pack a family of 7!!! I'm heading back to the laundry.....I'll try to post pictures of our bike ride at Shubie from the other day later......Jessica had a bike accident that required a new helmet in the end.......story to come with pictures!!

Cooper & Ben getting acquainted....

Miss Audrey.....what a doll!!

Audrey, Jessica & Sarah

Sam looking for a caterpillar

Ben loves the grass in NS.....

Cooper snoozing with Aunt Julie

Suzie & Me.......only smiles on the first day.....

What I did today.......

So we went to the beach the other day.......it was HOT and SUNNY when we left. In the 15 minute drive it went from SUNNY to FOGGY. The kids still had fun with us and my parents. I took lots of pictures in the FOG. Dad hung out with Cooper while Mom swam with Jeff and the other 4 kids. I tried to get a nice picture of them hanging out. It was HARD. Sometimes Dad was looking, sometimes Cooper was looking but it seemed as if they couldn't do it together. So I determined today that I was going to take the 2 pictures and make them into one good one. And so I played , and got frustrated and played some more but finally got it to work. Sorry if they aren't super clear on here but hopefully you can see what I did!! I'm just happy with the end result and I printed off a great photo to take over to Dad next time I'm in Halifax.


This is the foggy shot where Dad was looking.....


This is the shot where Cooper was looking....Dad was blinking....


This is my final result, all edited so
they look a little brighter!!! Both LOOKING!!!!