After being home for three nights, we headed off again...this time to Ouray, CO for my brother's wedding.

Ouray is my new favorite place on the planet, I think. 
Fun little town, and ridiculous
scenery no matter which way you look.

We got in lots of hiking:

We discovered the perfect location for the wedding ceremony on a hike:

Nora made some new friends:

Keyara, who came all the way from Sierra Leone to be at her Aunt Sonya's wedding.


And Julia, who lives in Rochester, MN.


We all got Sturgis Rally t-shirts.

We had a great time at the rehearsal dinner (Spicy Leprechaun Balls, anyone?)

And attended a beautiful wedding:
The bride and groom, Brendan and Sonya

With the bride and groom.

Brendan and Sonya with their three nieces: Nora (10 weeks), Keyara (2 yrs), Julia (3.5 months)

The Carrolls (yes, I'm barefoot...I could only handle being in 4.5 inch heels for so long on that terrain)

Miss Nora Adalyn Carroll after her first wedding.

The reception was at a local biergarten.  We stuffed ourselves with brats, spaetzle, pretzles, and a great selection of beer, and played darts, shuffleboard, and pool into the wee hours.


Where do I even begin? We're back in Wisconsin after three weeks, three time zones, six planes, seven states, and a nearly 10,000 foot change in elevation.  I think I'll just post pictures.  We spent ten wonderful days in Northern VA; Pottstown, PA; Bethany Beach, DE; and Assateague National Seashore, MD.

Nora and me at the Madison airport. She did delightfully in her Baby Bjorn.

Sitting on Daddy's lap during our flight to D.C.  She was perfect on all six flights and only cried occassionally after we'd landed.  What a good little traveler!

We arrived in D.C. on Friday, August 6th, and headed to Pottstown, PA the next morning for my mom's family reunion.  However, as you can see from the sign,
we could have just headed home to Lancaster.

Miss Nora was the center of attention at the family reunion.  I literally didn't hold her the entire time. Here she is with her Great Great Aunt Donna, Great Grandma Max, and Great Great Aunt Dot.


 We headed straight from the reunion to the beach. 
More driving...we were all glad to get out of the car!

A pirate walks into a bar with a steering wheel in his fly. The bartender asks why it is there, to which the pirate replies "Yar, I do not know myself,
but it's been driving me nuts!"

 It was nice to just relax:
With Grandpy Steve.

With Great Aunt Vicki.

With Cousin Brooke ("Aunty Brooke")


We got in lots of beach time:


I finally got to see the wild Assateague Ponies, and we took some nice hikes on
Assateague Island National Seashore.


Mike even got a little disc golfing in at
Cape Henlopen State Park.




It is going to be a crazy couple of weeks. Tonight we head to Madison to catch a flight to D.C. tomorrow. We're attending a family reunion (Mom's side) in Pottstown, PA and then heading to Bethany Beach, DE for a week or so. Can't wait for Grotto Pizza and boardwalk fries!! Beside the obvious "beach time", I'm hoping to hike off the (delicious) junk food at nearby state parks and national seashores, and Mike is looking forward to playing some east coast disc golf courses and visiting Dogfish Head Brewery in Rhehoboth Beach.

We fly back in about ten days, will be home for two, and then head off again, this time to Ouray, CO for my baby brother's wedding. I'm really excited to visit Ouray and explore the surrounding area (and be there Brendan and Sonya tie the knot, obviously!)

Of course, the fact that we're going to be home a grand total of about two minutes in the next month* means that we'll be flying four times in three weeks with a two month old baby. Let's just hope there is a minimum of this:


But advance apologies to the people next** to us on the flight.

Wish us luck!

*Yes, I know you're not supposed to announce that you'll be away from home on the internet cause people might come and steal your crap. Well, I'd certainly HATE it if someone came and stole all our wonderful, fabulous belongings out of the basement. Especially the giant computer monitor and broken DVD player and all the clothes that I want to donate to Goodwill. I'd be absolutely crushed. Really. I would. Just watch out for the attack turtle! And while you're digging around, could you look for our passports? I can't find them anywhere...
**And behind us...and in front of us...
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We spent a relatively relaxing weekend at the cabin. Relatively relaxing as on Friday night Miss Nora decided that sleeping was for losers and didn't, so we spent Saturday recovering. She redeemed herself on Saturday night and I was feeling peppy at 6:30 Sunday morning and actually got to spend some time on the porch, sipping coffee, and watching the wildlife and listening to the birds.

We headed to Governor Dodge State Park a few hours later and introduced our future outdoorswoman to the fine art of hiking on an incredibly muggy morning. It was so hot that we spent the latter half of the walk convincing Bodi it was worth "going on," and amazingly, Gatsby went swimming afterward and Gatsby avoids anything remotely close to a bath at all costs. Nora didn't seem to mind the heat and slept the entire time. Perhaps it was because she'd been on this exact hike (when I was close to eight months pregnant), but it's probably because if you're smushed up against Daddy's sweaty chest in a Baby Bjorn, being unconscious is probably the your best bet. She looked pretty adorable in her yellow polka dot sun hat (which, by the way, was almost impossible to find...why are newborn shoes readily available, but newborn sunhats practically nonexistent? Maybe my baby is just a slow learner, but there isn't a whole lot of walking involved yet.)

Did I take pictures of this momentous event in our child's life? No. The camera battery died. But here are a few of our children relaxing at the cabin.


Resting up for an all-nighter.
"I'll stay inside and make sure the a/c continues to work, thanks."
The return of pig-dog.  Guess who's getting a bath today.