We just got back from our week-long trip to Watoga, West Virginia for Greg's Granny's family reunion. We had such a great time visiting with family and enjoying the relaxing, peaceful environment. We ate some great food, played many hands of pinochle, went kayaking for a few hours (and have the resulting sunburns to prove it!!), Greg played a few rounds of golf, and we had a few run-ins with a bear family. We had such a great time and can't wait to go back next year!!!

It was another long drive, but Allison was a trooper. Add 10 new states to the list of where our little baby has been. She's now been to 36% of the US, though she wasn't awake for all of it :)





On a walk through the mountain
Wheeeeee!!!!!!

The Momma bear.

Life is hard for a single mother of three with no social services to help out :) so she raided our trash can a few times. One time when I came back from a walk with Allison (Greg was golfing), I turned onto the cabin driveway and there she was, about 30 feet away. I stood still and she eventually walked the other way, then off into the woods, so I ran into the house as quick as I could!!

When we were packing up the car to leave on Saturday morning a little before 6 am, Greg heard a noise in the darkness, so he grabbed the flashlight. The trashcans were dumped over again and we could hear the bear going through them. It had to be about 20 feet away in the pitch black, kinda scary!!!

The pic doesn't do it justice though...

Allison with her Great-Aunt Mary Ellen. Just look at that cute smile :)

Allison and her 2-year-old second cousin Jackson. He loved having a baby around!! He's such a gentle giant :)

Allison, Greg and Greg's Pappaw in the cabin relaxing.

Allison eating a peach. Those two teeth are coming in handy now :)

Allison and her second cousin Emma (Jackson's "big" sister). She is such a creative, crafty five-year-old!!

Daddy's Little Girl

Though they didn't get to make it to Watoga with the rest of us, we at least got to spend a little while with Greg's cousin Matt, his wife Cassie and their little one, Emmett. Even though Allison is 5 months younger, she is almost as tall as her second cousin!! He sure is a cutie :)

Before we left for West Virginia/Ohio, Mom came down for a couple days. We made it to the Terra Cotta Warriors exhibit at HMNS, so this was Allison's 2nd museum outing. They wouldn't let you take pics of the actual Terra Cotta Warriors, but they had some replicas around that we posed by.

As we were in the exhibit, we were staring at the wall reading some info about the findings when Mom felt a tap on her shoulder. She turned around to see a real-life Terra Cotta Warrior (we later found out his name is Jerry). He walked through the exhibit startling people and getting some laughs. He then made it to his post where he would stand still for minutes at a time until someone got really close and then he would jump out at them. It was fun :)

Allison and her "friend in the mirror". They will have conversations for hours on end :)

Our cutie :)

The Aggie barrel train for Pappy's Pumpkin Patch this year. My job was to sign it with all our class years :) Gig 'Em

She's having so much fun, and the barrel isn't even hooked up to the tractor yet.

How can you not love her :)

Allison's official 7 month pictures.

The only problem is that she now realizes there's a sign behind her, and she needs to know how it tastes. It makes for a tough photo shoot, but it's still cute nonetheless :)