Little Moss Lake

We just got back from a vacation in the middle of nowhere Minnesota with papa's family. It was so beautiful. It was so nice to see and spend time with grandparents, aunts and uncles, and cousins. The weather was perfect for a little added bonus.

Lilo insisted on taking his "pack-back" everywhere when our vacation started. It was quite the source of contention between him and Lily- until she got her own- we wouldn't want two two-year olds to have to share! Luckily he lost interest in it when he found other fun distracting things to do so we didn't have to lug it around with us the entire trip.
The first day of the trip papa took all three kids (and no other adults) on a canoe ride out to a floating dock to the deepest part in the middle of the lake. Lilo doesn't know much about balance in a canoe and leaned off the side and tipped and swamped the whole thing. Luckily H and Jojo are pretty good swimmers and they were able to help papa gather all of their soaked stuff and get back to the dock so papa could turn the canoe over and save everyone. The kids were all wearing life jackets, but it was still pretty scary- especially for Lilo. Everyone was safe in the end.
H and cousin Arthur had a great old time together. Arthur is H's closest-in-age cousin on the Thatcher side. They are exactly three years apart. They both have a lot of creative energy, so they are good for each other. H missed him lots when Arthur and his family had to go see their "other" cousins during the second week of our trip.
Arthur, cousin Tate, and Jojo. Jojo loves Tate.


This is cousin Tate (16 months). I could eat this child. He is bursting with new words every day. I love that stage.
Sweet little cousins playing in the canoe. Lily (2 years), Tate (16 months), Hathaway (17 months).
H and Hathaway seeing each other for the first time in almost a year.