There are lots of people to read to Brandon around here. Tonight he chose Uncle Eric & Jiddee (that's Nick's Dad, Phil). Jiddee is Arabic for grandfather. I also read a book. All three of them were from the Sheep in a Jeep Series. They're very cute - we all enjoyed them.

One of my oldest friends came to see us at the farm today with her two boys, Ryan & Jason. When they drove up, Brandon asked me who it was & I told him it was my friend Julie & her boys. He asked if they were his friends, so I said yes & he jumped up and down saying "YEAH!"
Jason is a couple months younger than Brandon & Ryan is a couple years older. They all seemed to have a really good time playing all afternoon.
We all went to the river again. The boys had fun throwing in rocks and looking for creatures. We saw tadpoles, crayfish, minnows, spiders, and waterbugs. My brother Eric's girlfriend's son, Ricky, also came down to play. He's 7, but very tall. Nick neglected to bring river shoes to Ohio with us, so he had to go barefoot.

The kids were all tired out by the river, but apparently so were Brandon's pants!!!
This is Taz, my brother Mark's dog. He came along to supervise.
Brandon showed off his running skills. I can't believe he was able to run all the way to the barn (which he kept calling the shed) and back and was only a couple of feet behind Ryan at the end of their race. Ryan is much taller and a couple years older. Brandon was pretty pleased with himself ...
The boys were picking long strands of grass and practicing their tying skills on Julie's fingers.

Julie tells me that Brandon has an accent!!! Sadly I can hear it too in some of the words he says. I guess he'll be the southern son of Yankee parents...

Nick & I left the kids with Mamo, Papa, Grandma Audrey, Grandpa Art, Uncle Eric, Great Grandma Goo & Stephanie last night and went up to Cleveland for an Indians game with our friends Lori & Mike. Do you think there were enough babysitters??? Uncle Mark would have been there too, but he had to work. The weather was perfect for the game. We didn't even need the jackets we brought. Even better - it was $1 hot dog night. Too bad the Indians LOST!!!

Since coming home, Brandon has been getting as many donuts as his little heart desires. Mamo & Papa like to get him whatever he wants ... I guess that's what is so great about grandparents! Nick, on the other hand, is sticking to the healthy stuff - bananas.
I went to Walmart yesterday to take pictures of purses for a photo scavenger hunt i'm working on for Flickr.com. The purse picture was the last one I needed to complete the list. You can see all of mine and the other people's entries at:
http://www.flickr.com/groups/the_world_through_my_eyes/discuss/72157601271098643/
Brandon always wants to ride the little machines at the Walmart entrance. Since Mamo was with us


Stopped for gas last night after dinner -



This toy Brandon is playing with is really neat. It's made by V-Tech & teaches kids how to write letters & numbers and how to draw shapes. It also shows them how to put shapes together to make simple pictures, like apples and houses. When they hit the complete button, it animates whatever they've drawn. Brandon played with it alot on the drive to Ohio.

We took Brandon down to the river yesterday. The river runs right behind my grandmother, Goo's, house. As kids, we used to spend alot of time playing down there. Brandon had a blast. Mom said she could hear him laughing and squealing all the way up at the house. My brother, Mark's, dogs came along too - Taz is the brown shepherd/husky and Pepper is the black & white mutt. While we're in Ohio, we're staying in the airstream which Dad parked right outside of Goo's house.

Both of my brothers live at the house next door - it's the white one with the decks hanging over the river cliff. The brown one with all the windows is Goo's house. This picture shows her sunporch which overlooks the river.

Along the way we saw some interesting river flowers, mating dragonflies, the root system of a tree along the cliff, a stick that looked like a huge bug and a big old crayfish.

Laedyn stayed up at the house with my Mom and Goo.

Is this what normal couples do these days ... everyone with their own computer, lost in their own world.

Well, we made it to Ohio. Laedyn does not like riding in the car, but Brandon did great. We had to stop every 1 1/2 hours to feed Laedyn, so the ride took alot longer than usual.

Here's a cute little place we parked at one of those times. I thought the field was very pretty & this old bank building is very interesting.

We stoped part way & stayed at a Hampton Inn - Brandon loves having their breakfast in the morning. Laedyn was happy to be out of her carseat.