Renaissance Boys

Anthony and I have hypothesized that Micah is a more academic personality and Paul tends towards being an athletic one, but they have been reversing roles, thereby becoming renaissance boys!

We played in God's beautiful creation while Anthony was writing biology modules in Boone, NC (The boys come by their Renaissance-man gifts honestly, since going into math didn't prevent Anthony from becoming a writer!)

I put Paul on my back and Micah hiked with me up Grandfather Mountain. Boy, was Micah a good hiking partner! He was smiling the whole way (no whining!)

Here's the postcard that we'll never get around to sending you saying, "Greetings from the top of the Blue Ridge!"

I'm no supermom, so I need to have a picture that makes me look like I'm on top of everything!

We went for another mile-long hike the next day, too!

This photo is for Great Uncle Ralph, the family Rudibeckia expert.

We were home for only one day between trips, but I took the boys to our county fair and they LOVED it! Now it is time to sing Paul's praises -- He's been working on speaking! He can now say "dad" and "mom." Plus, he used his first word at the fair: "shp" Sheep.

The next day, we went to western PA to see cousin Jack.

Doesn't Micah look like a grown up caring for sweet Jack?

It was hard to get a good photo of all three boys and Micah's face is being smooshed!

Our renaissance boys are getting ready to play Pittsburgh football.

"Ahh, gee, Grandma . . ."

Family reunion fun!

They are husking corn by the bushel! Mmmmm.

Photo Shoots

After seeing these photos my cousin took of Paul and Micah (without her professional gear), you'll want to hire her to photograph your family! Yes, this my unabashed advertisement for my talented cousin Karen! Here's her portfolio website: http://www.karensnyderphoto.com/

Smith Family Fun

This canoe trip with Great Grandpa Smith was a major highlight of my week and I think it was more Micah's speed than the Seadoo and going tubing.

Thank you, Aunt Faye, not just for taking this photo, but caring for Paul while I wakeboarded and skied, graciously hostessing all of us, sharing your three boys with us, etc.

"This is my life."
Anthony was only able to play for the first weekend, since he had conferences in California, but he battled Micah with the Retro-Rockets!
I didn't take 200 great pictures like Aunt Elaine, but my camera caught her enjoying the ski boat with Doug.
Karen, Jessica and Amy got the fun-times-for-Micah-and-Paul awards!
Do you see what I mean about Karen? Paul is saying, "This cousin makes the coolest sounds!"
Jessica somehow made it fun to have a Micah shadow!

Catching the catfish . . .

Catching Mr. Carp . . .

But mostly catching Bluegills! Great Grandpa Smith is the second person for whom Paul has a name. Micah is "Aah" and Grandpa is "Uh oh!" No, Paul doesn't say mom or dad yet.

"Tell me, Great-Aunt Kathy, will I still be cute like you when I grow up?"
One of the neat things about times on the dock was how family members brought the best aspects of their jobs to the dock. Here's a sampling: Mom and Keith cleaned garlic, Karen took great pictures while getting Paul to smile, Uncle Ralph and Bill fixed all sorts of things, Amy taught Micah Spanish, Aunt Marilyn wrote notes, Aunt Faye and Aunt Kathy shared fashion expertise, and best of all -- Doug, Will and Taylor brought their guitars. Of course I brought my wonderful "job" with me, too: Micah and Paul.
Justin's job was to teach Micah to be cool.
Here are the first three great-grandsons . . .
Number four is on his way!

Yes, we spent lots of time in the water and Paul loves it.

Charlie is watching boats with his "noculars."

Micah has had a ball extending our visit with Great-Grandpa Smith this week. Check out the photography: the cylinder is rolling down their ramp!