Sunshine Day

We woke up early to a gorgeous, gorgeous day. It was perfection.

We all went out to breakfast at a little diner in town, then returned to the farm to enjoy ourselves. Several of us wandered down to the pond again, with the dogs in tow.

Tyler attempted (again) to get Miller to swim, but really only succeeded in getting him to stand in the water--but it's a start.

The water was smooth and sparkly all day long. So beautiful.

Tessa reveled in some more off-leash time.

Back up at the house, Hunter engaged in some "conversation" with the ladies on the porch.

We all gathered back up at the house and started out on a hike.

First down the dirt road...

(The dogs were in Heaven)

...then into the woods...


...and eventually back to one of our favorite spots by a beaver dam.

An hour or so later, we had returned to the house, and decided to take our traditional group photo. We usually take it on the last day before we leave, but Nina had to leave a day early, plus we didn't want to chance getting rained out like last year. Gotta take advantage of the good weather while you can!

We cooled off in the shade of the porch for a while. Michael captured this cute shot of Miller lying on the porch. What's funny is that if you look closely in the background, you can see Tessa looking at the camera, too. :)

My brothers headed down to the pond for some fishing...

...while Michael took Tess out in the paddle boat. Later in the day, my mom and I took her out, too. She was so good, just sitting in between us. She loved it!

I told Kara to relax and I put the baby back in the front pack for a bit. He sucked down a bottle in the gazebo, then had some bonding time with grandma.

After a long afternoon in the sun, we retreated to the house to get cleaned up for dinner and, once again, hang out on the porch with some wine and beers.

Hunter chilled in his bouncy seat.

We ate a bit dinner of burgers, hot dogs, beans, and salad. Then, we couldn't resist going back down to the pond. The boys fished while several of us savored the beautiful evening from inside of the screened-in gazebo (BUG FREE, it's genius).

Tessa cuddled with my mom...

...while Michael spent some more time in the kayak.

With a beer, of course. ;)

It was an awesome, awesome day. Exactly what we were hoping for with this trip to the Poconos.