The Hazard Chronicles

Wow- this week has gone by very fast! On Saturday my parents arrived at the airport and got to see their two newest grand-children. They stayed all week and we had tons of fun with them. Evelyn was happy that they were here too- I think that she will forever associate M&Ms with long walks with Grandpa.

One of the fun things we did with them was visit the Harvest Festival at the Hale Farm and Village down at Cuyahoga Valley National Park. We have driven by this place before, but never visited it. It was actually pretty cool. It is a little village with homes and shops set up how they were back in the 19th century. The craftsmen did demonstrations and we got to learn a little bit about how life around here was back in the day. I'm glad that I don't live back then. I am sort of addicted to buying pre-packaged meat and to heated automobiles in the middle of winter.

One of the other fun parts about having my parents here was being able to show them what Autumn is like in Cleveland. The colors are starting to change and the chill is in the air and it is beautiful and energizing. I love Autumn!

Besides having my parents in town, we had a few other exciting happenings this week. First of all, Jackson and Adalie are officially getting fatter. The doctor said so.

Second of all, we sold our car. The Prizm was an awesome, reliable little car and we loved her dearly, but our family just got too big. For a while we just let the car sit in the driveway and it was sort of nice to have a second car. But then the registration ran out, and we got tired of paying insurance on it, so it was time for the car to go. Farewell, dear friend.

Finally, we are about to find out what we are really in for with these twins. Since they were born over a month ago we have had family living with us on all but two of the days. It was a little bit ominous and almost comical as we drove away from the airport after saying goodbye to my parents with two babies in the back seat screaming at the top of their lungs and us not being able to do anything about it. We both looked at each other with this what-have-we-done sort of look, and then did our best to pretend that everything was normal. I think that from here on out, silence in going to be a treasured commodity.

But I also have to say that it is sort of nice being just us again. It is nice to be able to hold my babies and cuddle with them on a more regular basis. It is nice to have Evelyn back and to be able to have long conversations with Rachel. We are very, very glad that our family came out, and we are very, very thankful for their help, but I think we are ready to be on our own again (famous last words). We went on a Sunday family walk today and it was a lot of fun to think about how this is our family and of all the fun times we have ahead of us. Bring it on- that's what I say!

And now...Get ready for a lot of pictures!

I think my parents really liked meeting Jackson and Adalie.

Evelyn really likes my motorcycle helmet. It makes her top-heavy though, and she tends to tip over at times. She's a pretty funny little girl.

Here she shows how proud she is of herself for being able to stuff her baby doll into an oatmeal container. Yes, it is sort of worrisome. Grandpa taught her this trick. Thanks Grandpa.

One day when I came home from school, I found that our sunroom had been transformed into a fort. Leave it to the grandparents to find innovative ways to entertain toddlers.

Yes, we know. Evelyn is the cutest toddler girl ever. We are lucky to be her proud parents.

Here we are at the Harvest Festival at Cuyahoga Valley. It was a beautiful day and we got to see some of the changing colors. Fun, fun, fun!

They had a "corn maze" at the harvest festival. It wasn't very hard tough, since it was pretty much just a straight path through a little corn patch with very few minor detours. Evelyn liked the tall corn-stocks though.

Here's Rachel and my mom at the Harvest Festival.