Hugs and kisses via phone

I leave for the political conventions early tomorrow morning. I'll be gone for two weeks, the longest I've ever been away from these little guys.

I hope I make it.

Knoebels

We spent Monday at Knoebels, this awesome family-owned, old-fashioned amusement park in the middle of nowhere Pennsylvania. The place is incredibly cheap. Parking is free and so is admission to the park. Rides average about 90 cents for kiddie attractions, and $1.20 for the bigger rides. We probably spent less than $40 the entire day.

The kids had a blast and later in the afternoon, we met up with my sister-in-law Sandy and three of her four girls, whom August and Reid absolutely adore. Ah, good times.

The boys could't wait to try the kiddie bumper cars. Of course, Reid had no idea what to do when he got in. August later said this was his favorite ride, "even though it hurt my back."

I have absolutely no idea what this thing is, but Reid obsessed over riding it.

August, reflecting on the delicious sandwhich I made him.

Reid also obsessed over finding the trains on the park map. Once he found them...

...he was determined to go there.

The other vacation...

I mentioned in my previous post we were just starting our second vacation. I thought I should post some pictures from our first major trip this summer _ a visit to Rehoboth Beach. That week represented the most relaxed Marty and I have been for years.

I love this shot. August is trying to convince Reid to join him. Sometimes Augie can be such a wonderful big brother.

Does anyone see Reid's resemblance to Marty here? Beyond the blinding white belly, that is?

At Fun Land! (The boardwalk arcade)

This has been a great summer. I hate to see it end. In addition to our extended vacations, we've also had some fabulous mini-holidays, like the weekend spent camping beneath the stars, the trip to the county fair and the numerous days spent in the backyard swimming and eating dinner with friends at our Salon Sunday gatherings.

Farmer's markets and baseball games

Today marked the start of our second vacation of the summer. This morning, we headed to the farmer's market in downtown Silver Spring. We bought some danish, sat down at a table and just basked in the beautiful weather. The boys were amusing as always. Fabulous, fabulous morning. We really didn't do much except roam around and yet, in so many ways, it was incredibly productive. Good times. I just wish I had brought my camera.

This afternoon we went to go see the Nationals. They lost, of course, but the boys had fun anyway.

At a certain point, August started eating his cotton candy like corn on the cob.

Reid, a ham? I know, a shocker.

This picture is signifcant for two reasons: 1) I actually got a genuine smile out of Reidie; 2) August is eating a hot dog. Until this evening, my boys were the only kids on Earth who disliked hot dogs. But I guess watching Marty eat a dawg from Ben's Chili Bowl stirred something inside August!