A couple of weeks ago, my friend, Marcie, and I went to my parents' house to can some peaches. They had a great crop this year and with my Grandma passing, they just didn't have time to take care of all the peaches themselves. They gave many away and then I had them hide me some so I could can them. This was really the first time I remember canning. I probably helped my mom in the past, but I don't remember . . . maybe I refused to help :)Anyway, we probably canned for half a day and ended up with 41 quarts total. My mom helped, of course. Even with that, I think it's pretty impressive for a few hours. I think we all had a lot of fun. I can say that I have tested the product. Delicious!

Almost a week ago, Brinton fell off the top bunk bed in his room during the middle of the night. I know that kids fall off the bunk bed all the time, so I didn't think too much of it. I put him back to bed on the lower bunk and tried to get more sleep myself. Not thirty minutes later, he woke up again and we moved him into our bed. Off and on, he would sleep a little bit, but then he would wake up and throw up. Steve and I were worried that he could have had a concussion, so after a little waiting, I took him into the emergency room. They gave him some medicine to help with his nausea and then ordered a neck x-ray and a CAT scan. Because I am pregnant, I couldn't be right there with Brinton for the tests. I had to go back behind the wall with the x-ray tech. They had a nurse come be with him and I am so glad he is such a sweet kid. He was very cooperative the whole time and just did whatever they needed. He fell back to sleep while we waited for the test results. The doctor brought me over to the computer and showed me the CAT scan while he explained that Brinton had fractured his skull. I was so surprised that it was something so serious, but so happy that his brain had no bruising or bleeding at all. The doctor said that basically, it's just like waiting for any broken bone to heal. The next day, Brinton was doing great. I had to keep telling him to stop jumping around, doing somersaults, and flipping upside down onto his head on the couch. Seriously, it was like nothing happened at all. Two days after the fall, I had a follow appointment with Brinton's pediatrician. On the way there, he was a little confused. "The doctor is going to make me feel all better again, Mom?" I told him yes as we were driving up to the office. "I fell off my bed again?" I told him no, but that the doctor just wanted to see his head and make sure it was okay. He was fine with it at that point and the appointment went just fine. Needless to say, Steve is going to build a better bed rail for him before he sleeps back up there. We really feel blessed that this wasn't any worse. I still am surprised that he broke his skull, but I guess carpet over concrete isn't that squishy.

On Labor Day, we went to the carnival that they have at Steve's work. It is always so much fun and this year was no exception.They have a lot of booth games to play and Brinton had fun with all of them. It was nice to know most of the people working there because we ended up getting all the best prizes . . . even if I couldn't help Brinton win. They had several large blow up slides and obstacle courses. Brinton would have stayed there all day if I could have stood watching him in the heat longer than I already did. Zander got to try cotton candy for the first time. Of course he thought it was delicious, how could you not? I waited in a super long line so Brinton could get his face painted. He wanted to be a pirate like a friend, Jake, and he was set on that. As other kids in front of us in the line would be done and have butterflies, puppies, batman, etc., Brinton just kept asking, "Where is my pirate, Mom?" The afternoon led to Brinton swimming with Dad while Zander and I watched. It was a really hot and busy day, but worth it because of all the fun.

Last month, some of our great friends invited us to their family cabin for a weekend. It was so much fun, and not too far away.We spent quite a bit of time on their four wheelers. My family used to go four wheeling when I was growing up so it was a blast and brought back a lot of memories for me. Can you believe that we would fit our whole family on one four wheeler? That is in fact four and a half people, but we were still safe and no one got hurt. We brought our swimming gear in case we wanted to go to a pool out there and it was a good thing. The swim goggles were great for keeping the dirt out of all our eyes, but especially the kids'. Zander took a couple naps while we were on rides. I have been waiting to get a few pictures from my friend, but I figured I better blog about this before I forget everything (don't feel bad, Marc) :) We found a freezing cold stream for the boys to play in and had an outdoor picnic one day. Of course there was a lot of game playing and talking everyday.We all went fishing to a lake that was super close. That was Brinton's first time, too bad we didn't catch anything. Zander actually slept in the car the whole time. You can see that Steve is just riveted with excitement, which was to be expected. Brinton and Thayne had so much fun with their fake fishing poles and Brinton had no problem wading in too far so he was all wet by the time we left the lake. We really had so much fun on our little vacation and are excited to be going back next year (hint, hint). Thanks Jake and Marcie for taking us!

We have done a lot of swimming this summer. Because Steve works at a pool during the summers, Brinton was able to get free swim lessons. He did okay during the lessons and would listen to the teachers, but he wasn't always enthusiastic about everything.About a week after the lessons were over, it was like a switch was turned on. All the sudden, he couldn't get enough of going under and blowing bubbles . . . sometimes going under for an uncomfortable amount of time (for me to watch). He has had so much fun, it's too bad Labor Day has come and the pools are closing. One time at our neighborhood pool with a friend, he was learning a little about diving. His friend, Thayne, had been practicing, so I asked Brinton if he wanted to dive, too. He got really excited and said, "Yes!" He got out of the water and went to the edge. Just as I was about to explain what diving was, he made a groaning noise, got all stiff and then just fell into the water sideways. Once he came up, he was really excited about dying and had to try it some more. I wish I would have got that one on video, it was hillarious! By the end of swimming that day, he was practically doing cartwheels into the water. Zander really loves the water, too . . . mostly his bath water. Zander loves to play in the water, but he doesn't want me to hold him. He would like to just play on his own. Because we can't do that in the deep pools (like the one by my house), he mostly sits in the stroller and watches. He is really content to eat some crackers and wave "hi" to us from time to time. I am sure we will miss the swimming, especially since the weather would suggest we should still be in the water. Hopefully we can have this much fun again next year (and maybe a couple times in an indoor pool before then).