Just as special as the reunion is our evening before at the family camp. Just to think on the fact that my father probably held this same pose in this same spot sixty years ago is surreal to me. I often let me mind dawdle on things like family history, time flying, and the repetitive comforts of familiarity. But I am always impressed by these things, no matter how often I consider them.

We had a pretty stellar turnout this year, I thought.

Chef Zach made some killer hors d’oeuvres.

See what I’m saying? Definitely a recipe by the square heads, for the square heads.

Last year, Josse was just a month old at camp.

The children were ready to go at 8:30, but we stayed til 10:30. They were great though, even the ones who stayed awake.

So, I have a lot of fun photos that I’ve fallen behind in posting. And my mind is a little too sleepy right now to think of clever ways to group them. I throw in the word “random,” and we have a sort of creative grouping, don’t you think? And…… go.

This is a handsome man-ring on my son’s finger. It was a prize, and I think his sisters’ always having jewelry to flaunt has given him a keen eye for gems. Oh, but besides that, this beautifully decorated hand is thanks to an ingenious group of siblings finding a way to grate their sidewalk chalk. Ha! I loved how it looked, albeit difficult for me to capture “on film.” Here’s another try:

We have four plentifully producing apple trees in our yard. I can’t wait til we start using them more. So far we’ve made a tiny batch of cider which was so exciting! We need to prune to aid in the less-than-a-billion, bigger-than-baby-size apple production. One of our trees, we were warned by the last home owners, will never make “good” apples. But that one tree is said to be over a hundred years old, so we will excuse its lack of sweetness and appreciate it for its history and gnarled grandness. In these photos, Josselyn is testing out one of the apples from the archaic tree, and well, you can see the reaction. Gotta love that.

We found this one evening in our yard. How beautiful! I believe it’s a luna moth. Have you ever seen one in person before? I should have had something in this photo to indicate size. It was quite large, probably about the size of my palm! I think this was the first one I had ever seen. I’m not sure if they’re normally in these parts.

Josse’s personality has been bubbling out, and she’s such a sweetie. Here she was playing peek-a-boo around the fence.

I’ve been thrilled that the children are able to find locust shells on our trees, just like I did many times in my Gramma’s yard. They are such a fun memory. Do you remember how they stick to your shirt?

Sportin’ a tutu PJ’s set she got for her birthday from Grammy S.

Cy with “White Spot,” the kitty. This kitty has been getting plenty of attention! And thankfully, he is very gentle and patient with his little owners.

See that pride? My littlest is a big explorer! She loves to climb on ANYthing. This is one of her safer stunts. She can be found on boxes, bedside stands, and end tables. I’m not sure if it’s a love of adventure or if it just makes her feel like one of the big kids. (And yes, nearly every other picture was of Josselyn in this post. She’s getting to my favorite age, so my photos are a little unbalanced.) Happy Summer!!!

Like monarchs migrating to Mexico, a hundred fifty or so of my closest cousins are heading the way of the Holtwood farm. Tomorrow at noon, the Rhoads Chicken Corn Soup Reunion will officially commence, but the week leading up to the “official” start is full of anticipation and mini-reunions. The Michigan clan arrives. The Kauffman clan tubes down the river. Old faithfuls gather at camp to partake of hors d’oeuvres. It’s the same thing every year. YES. The same thing every year. This is what makes it so sweet, so anchoring, so memorable. Thank you, C.H. & Jennie Mae, for beginning this family that has grown into something so special.

1925 Family Photo at 402 West State Street, Quarryville, PA. Left to Right, Front Row: Anna Mary (Hock), Ruth, Enos (Mike), Miriam (Peg), Paul, Kathryn (John); Back: Dora (Dot), Elizabeth (Lib), Charles Hancock Rhoads (C.H.), Jennie Mae Shaubach Rhoads, baby David (my Pappy), Levi, and Amos.

Sheesh, I am SO far behind in my blogging that I realized I haven’t yet posted pictures of our adorable baby’s 1st birthday. This was a fun one. Never before have I had a child that was so “into it.” She seems so grown up for a 1-year-old. Ummm…. guessin’ that’s because she’s trying to keep up with the 2-, 4-, 6-, & 7-year-old. No doubt.

What’s this?

Not bad…

Nice and smooshable.

ooOOOooo, my favorite… Spreadable!

Time to be big again. Time to use my giant spoon. (Nice angle, how it looks as long as her arm!)

5th baby and Mama picks white. Yes, some brain cells are MIA. (To just explain how much fun this was to me, I remember Shelby’s first birthday well, and she wouldn’t even touch the cake. I had to feed her with a spoon.) Time for a quick bath, then presents.

The eldest sissy spent her own hard-earned cash and bought a “ball-ball” for baby sissy. Josse was DELIGHTED.

Look! She’s actually opening it. No kidding. *I* was DELIGHTED!

Two new sippies! Perhaps now I can get rid of some of the “vintage” ones from Shelby’s babyhood.

Josselyn L.O.V.E.S. Shelby’s and Angela’s teddies SO much that we tried to find her one of her own. She prefers that extra shorthair velvety kind. We’ll see if this “bear-bear” sticks. If not, in the weeks since her birthday, I did happen to come across the “perfect” choice.

And… “baby!” Can’t get enough baby dolls around this place. During one frustrating cleanout I thought, “One dolly for each girl. That should be enough, right?” Then I was horrified by my thought, as I carried that out in my imaginary world. What if they carry that into adulthood? What if somebody said that to ME, right now?! Whew, talked myself down from that one, but suffice it to say, we will continue to have a plethora of baby dolls. (There is one waiting in the wings right now for the next sissy’s birthday, actually. A “nuk-y” baby is the only thing the next birthday wisher asked for, so who am I to deny her only wish?)

Many of our days are filled with swimming (or “fwimmin” as is often heard ’round these here parts). This summer has been an excellent one for it! Nearly every day I am thankful to God for giving us this extra special blessing.

I love that you can spy Cyrus going for Shelby’s tickling feet in this one!

Woohoo! I almost missed this one. Thanks to Cyrus’ speech therapist for pointing it out to me!

Shelby & Cyrus at Vacation Bible School in June.

The holdup was this:

No, not that chaotic mess. That’s typical. It might even be considered a better day for my desk. See that little yellow thing on Ceidleigh? Let’s zoom in…

Yes, it was my husband’s version of

Ceidleigh had issues. But my ever-so-patient, extremely knowledgable and skillful geek-in-resident came to the rescue again. The insides were still good (i.e. photos not lost, hooray!), but the hard drive needed replaced. I think we’re back in business now. I’m even further behind now on sharing some great photos of our adventures with you, but I’ll just get them up as I can. We rarely have problems with our macs (naturally), so this was a bit of a strange feeling around here.

My brother suggested I post that old photo of me on Champion. Being the avid photo archivist that I’ve become, I just happen to have it tucked away on Ceidleigh (my trusty Mac). Here we are, Champion and little Becky. I don’t look so sure. But I grew to love it! That’s cousin Rainey on the left and Aunt Sonya on the right.

During vacation week, we headed to the beach for the day. We planned a bit of an adventure. Explored a little out-of-the-way beach at a marina on the way to Rehoboth. See… treasure hunting is in me, and apparently I passed that onto the Shelb. We saw a program about “hunting” sea glass, and she wanted to in the worst way. (I thought it’d be fun, too, of course.) So I did some research online, found this little beach, and we spent an hour or so in the morning combing the beach for teensy pieces of frosted, tumbled treasure. Just as it was getting hot, we hopped back in the van to head towards Rehoboth. Beat the heat with lunch at Dogfish Head, then some rides. Hit the sand around 4pm til Josselyn couldn’t take it anymore (and the others were exhausted as well). Got some yummies on the way out. I love the beach.

Meet Champion. He is MY horse. Yes, my parents have pictures of me when I was this old riding him. He was white then, and he took me for a ride for a dime instead of a quarter. But he is mine. I actually dream of owning him, should this arcade ever get rid of him.

See? There’s his name. It’s still him, under that icky brown paint. All the children, except Josse, got a ride.

Daddy & his girls scoping out the rides.

Classic.

Angela made me laugh. She’s always so adventuresome, but she chose the bench seat on the Merry-Go-Round. And she loved it!

Played with my camera while they rode the Carousel.

And kept watch over this sweetie.

Probably the last time he’ll fit in the boats. *sniff, sniff*

Always a fun ride on the blinky cars.

Isn’t that a fantastic smile? She wouldn’t let me take her picture, bein’ ornery. But when I dropped the camera to hip level, she laughed and I got this one!

Shelby spied the Betsy Ross flag on the ceiling. So beautiful with the ornate carousel decorations below.

Elle Mae & Angela got a double ride on the hot air balloons because of a changing-of-the-guard oversight. Woohoo!

Shelby picked the Hopper as her last ride. She giggled with every drop. Made me laugh!

Four little firefighters. Josselyn’s only ride. I think she actually would’ve smiled more if the sunscreen hadn’t been burning her eyes.

Didn’t actually manage to get any photos ON the beach, but this was directly AFTER the beach time.

Just passed out sitting up.

Couple slices. Saw Gus at his place, too, but didn’t get a shot.

Kohr Bros: PB + choco = girls. Orange + van = boy.

You’re right. As cute as this is, it didn’t end well. LoL.

We spent a week of vacation at home, and it was marvelous! I have lots of pictures to share. Hope you don’t get tired of them.

Over Independence Day we had the privilege of visiting with the Blairs.

Got in some good games of Wizard, one of which I was excited to take the crown.

We had a big time clean out of the 3rd bay of the barn.

My hero seen here ripping out the “room” made entirely of insulation, styrofoam, and duct tape.

And there he is, opening the piggie door!

With his trusty sidekick on wasp patrol.

The 3rd bay transformed into the pot shop aka the mud room aka the clay studio. (o.my.excitement!)

And get this! First day, completely by herself. Wow.

Later in the week we made a fabulous run to Philly. First to the Ceramics Store to get just everything! Then to the Adventure Aquarium in Camden, NJ. I opted not to take my camera to the aquarium, just to have a more relaxing day.