The Rayhorn Family: The Fourth and The Rest of July. . .

It's been awhile. Life has been busy! Doctor appointments, packing, a trip to Marquette, final exams for Ethan, and more, all mixed with the general exhaustion of pregnancy. I'll give you some of the high points, and then enjoy some pics from the Fourth.

We've finally decided on a baby boy name. Well, actually, Ethan finally agreed to my favorite name: Caleb Jones Rayhorn. It seemed like it was harder to decide, or a little more pressure choosing a name, knowing this is our last little one. We tried out a couple different names, but kept coming back to this one. So now we have Anna Ellene, Benjamin Parr, and soon, Caleb Jones Rayhorn. I think all the names go well together. Moving on....
Benjamin is a talking machine. I've always compared him to Anna in verbal abilities, and while she's always enunciated clearly (and Benjamin is harder to understand), he is catching up. He says long sentences all the time, and it always catches me by surprise. So happy for him, because I just know Benjamin LOVES telling us how he feels about things. He's pretty picky. The other day he said a 7 word sentence...pretty impressive for a 27 month old. Most of the things Ben-Ben says have to do with what he wants, like: "How about I choose." "I don't like that." "I don't want eat that potato (really he means tomato)." "I know, how about we go to park." My personal favorite - I was putting him in his crib for the night, and he said loudly, "Mama, I have to tell you something!" What, I replied. Quietly, he said, "Bye." Loved it!
Anna has been a singing machine lately. It's something she's always enjoyed. These days she likes to try to mimic the vibrato she hears when some of the Disney princesses sing. She actually has a very beautiful voice, for a four year old. Sweet! The funny thing is, she will burst into loud song any time and anywhere. I love my little sweet cheeks. She has been so helpful in many ways and especially with the packing. We've been trying to find fun, cool, in-door activities because it has been so HOT and HUMID this entire summer. Seriously, I can't remember the last day that it was in the 70's. Unacceptable. But, we're finding ways to get the kids exercise, and they've been pretty understanding...especially Anna. She has come up with all kinds of creative things to do and play in doors. She has even been playing with Benjamin a lot lately. The other day I heard Anna say to Ben, "Ben, come help. I can't get it!" And Ben replied, "I'M COMING ANNA!" So sweet!
Ethan just finished up his final exams. We're taking a week to finish packing and cleaning, and do some relaxing. Then we are headed up to Marquette next week. We're very excited for the month of August when we will all be together. Then we're all kind of dreading the fall...but I'll write about that later. It will be an adventure. Right now we are looking forward to many fun things we have planned in Marquette over the next few weeks. Yay!

Pictures from the Fourth:

The parade was a bit of a let down. It was 90 something degrees out, and humid. The kids didn't like all the noise. And there wasn't much candy. Oh, well. We had a lot of fun the rest of the weekend - swimming, picnics, fireworks, family, friends, church at our old congregation, etc.

South Beach, Lake Superior swimming with the Rayhorns, Johnsons, Kenisons. The kids LOVED it! It was about 7pm when we went, and it was still HOT enough, high 80's, for all the kids to still get in and enjoy the freezing water.

Fireworks! We didn't have the kids stay up for the actual show, since we were traveling the next day, and didn't want super cranky kids. Benjamin was super nervous about all the fireworks. I love the picture of Anna trying to comfort him, and reassure him. He didn't buy it, and kept a good distance. He did eventually pick up a sparkler that had already burnt out...that was as close as he came, but it was a step. Benjamin did like the snap it's. Anna loves fireworks and was very excited for smoke bombs, sparklers, and a few other bigger ones Ethan lit. Rorie was very interested in all of it...a little too interested. She kept getting closer and closer and wanted to grab the fire. Everyone walked away unharmed, thank goodness.