Daniel Boone National Forest

We got together with Peace Corps friends and did some hiking in Daniel Boone National Forest near Lexington, Kentucky. Here are Joshua and Sydney relaxing in the cabin.

Here I am with Lucy Claire, Sydney, and James Henry.

Joshua and Mike planning the route.

Taking in the sights at Red River Gorge.

Sydney and Joshua with Maureen in the background.

Sydney doing her Vanna White impression to show the rock formation above her...or maybe just saying "Hi."

Snack break for the munchkins.

Maddy G stretching out during the lunch break.

During the weekend, we had some fun with tie dye...here are the kiddos sporting the creations. (From left to right: Sydney, James Henry, Lucy Claire, and Madeline.)

We helped our friend Bo move to Michigan for his year-long internship. It also provided a nice excuse to take a trip to Lake Michigan. Here's a group shot at Bo's new apartment. Not only did we get Sydney to look at the camera (courtesy of the flashing red light), she is even pointing at the light.

Here's Sydney at Lake Michigan. She did make us promise to take her to the "real" beach next summer. Don't feel too sorry for her, she did make it to both coasts twice in her first year of life...and we live in Indiana.

Bo and Catherine at Saugatauk Dunes State Park.

We hiked down to the beach and Joshua carried Sydney and a giant watermelon. Not surprisingly, we were strongly encouraged to eat the entire watermelon before the hike back. The sun was warm and the watermelon was cold. Sydney loved the watermelon.

Can't you hear her saying "Mmmm" in this picture?

Catherine offered Sydney some watermelon and tried to discourage her from using her sandy hands to help her consume it (no small feat!)

I like this pictures because it's a good example of how as soon as you get the 1-year old to look up, inevitably one of the adults looks at the 1-year old instead of the camera.

Here's a nice family shot.

Good luck, Bo! We will miss you around here.

Signs & Sounds

We happened to have the video camera out the other night and took a few short videos of Sydney during different stages of her routine at night. In the first video, she is letting us know what the chicken says...the best part is at the end when she chucks it off the changing table, smiles, and then says "bye bye" which is what she says to everything she chucks off the changing table or out of her play yard. "Bye bye" has usurped "burp" as her favorite word. Not to worry, she still says "burp" enough that she will even fake a burp and say "burp" if we egg her on. Classic. The second video shows her playing with and then signing baby. The third video has me sticking the camera (with light!) in her face and asking her to show us features of her face. She willingly obliges.

We celebrated a birthday this weekend in the Munz household (see candles below for the specifics). Sydney put on her party dress from her Great Aunt for the occasion.

Sydney's take on glass slippers that go with her dress.

Posing for pictures with the birthday girl...



A nice black and white solo shot. I know I'm biased but she is pretty adorable.

Joshua did a spectacular job with the brownie ice cream cake.


Here are some fun videos of Sydney and Sadie walking each other at the end of the weekend. Notice Sydney's festive flag shirt. We love the 4th of July and surrounding events around here!