Washington D.C.

We found some crazy cheap tickets and Jared had a little break between jobs so we decided to make a break for it and take the whole crew to the Nation's capitol.

Thanks to my sister, Crystal, for feeding us, housing us, and spending lots of hours watching kids so Jared and I could actually see DC!

On our 4 hour layover... that turned into 6 hours.... 

We enjoyed a nice picnic on the Mall.

Caroline took this nice picture for us.

The Air and Space Museum was a favorite for the kids.
Probably because it was the one place where they could actually touch stuff.

Museum of Natural History.

Lincoln Memorial

Washington Monument

I think riding on the metro may have also been their favorite.

Jared and I were able to go on a tour of the White House.  Pretty cool view out the window.

Feeding time for the crew of hooligans that my sister took care of so
Jared and I could enjoy the museums and capitol building.

Cousins!

Trouble #1 and Trouble #2. 

Washington DC Temple

So long, DC.  It was fun!

Matthew at 9 Months

Matthew still has two teeth.
He's very nearly weaned.
He is army crawling faster and faster.  Regular crawling is too slow for him. Ben thinks it looks like Matthew is swimming when he army crawls, so the'll go "swimming" together.
He seems to like fruit more than veggies and really likes to spit out food.
He insists on putting EVERYTHING in his mouth.
He's getting a little bit more consistent with naps and takes a morning nap and an afternoon nap.
He likes swinging and going for walks.
He gets around pretty well for a kid that doesn't even crawl.
He still wakes up at least once at night.

Matthew's 9 month stats:

Height: 27.75 in (25%)

Weight: 20 lbs. 1 oz. (60%) 

Head: (60%)

Camping with all the Grandparents

We had a camping trip of firsts.

It was the first time we've gone camping with both sets of grandparents.

It was the first trip out for Dave and Janette's new motor home.

It was the first time my parents had camped in the Unitas.

and it was the first time for them to go out on ATV's.  

Dirt, ATV's, and Grandparents. My kids were in Heaven.

The rest of August

 This was pretty much all we got out of our garden.  It's a really good thing we're not relying on it for our survival.  They were beautiful, though!

 I love when school starts back and we can practically get the whole pond to ourselves.

I love summer.

This was our view of the eclipse.  Pretty anticlimactic compared to those who got the total experience, but it was still kinda cool. I'm glad the metal roof on my carport has holes in it or we might not have even gotten to see this much.  

 The best picture that we took at the fair.  My kids love the Ferris wheel!

 No matter how many times he gets stuck he keeps insisting on crawling under the chairs.

Watching planes fly over in the backyard. 

 I love summer.

Have I mentioned that I love summer?