If there is anyone out there holding out for a new post after 1 1/2 months, I commend you. We have been busy with our little 2-year olds for the past few weeks.

Yes, Rebekah and Brad took a trip to the great state of Maine on August 9 - 12 to summit one of the most breathtaking mountains in the Eastern U.S., Katahdin. We had a whirlwind trip because the undeveloped area that is the center of Maine is not very easy to reach. It did not help that our flights were delayed, but we made the most of it and enjoyed every minute thanks to our host. Whisper is a former AT thru-hiker and lives in Portland. She showed us around the quaint downtown and waterfront areas of Portland, and we ate, of course, lobster (in the "lobster roll" form, which is pieces of lobster on a hot dog bun, since lobster is very expensive this year). We started our hiking on Saturday morning and had every intention of motoring through the miles, getting back to our rental car before dark, and arriving back in Portland around bedtime. However, the mountain took us on the ride of our lives - up the 4,000 feet in 5 miles to the summit and across the Knife's Edge trail, which sports multiple areas without a trail and with over 1,000 feet of exposure! It beat us up and easily humbled us. We survived to tell about it -and we arrived in Portland around midnight. We were exhausted.

Other highlights that have been memorialized in pictures on flickr include:

August 22 - the girls have taken a recent interest in their dolls that were a gift from Mama and Daddy on their 1st birthdays. The dolls have sat in the playroom all this time and we were wondering if Sydney and Abigail would ever play with them. As you may have seen in the pictures, the girls like to "change" the baby's diapers, hold the baby's as if to burp them, and put the babies to sleep by covering them with blankets. Priceless!

August 27 - We have been serenaded by the boom, boom of the drum for the past few weeks (ever since Mama and Daddy were brave enough to bring musical instruments in the house for the girls 2nd birthday). Sydney has taken to drumming (Daddy has taught her to begin the rhythm by hitting the drumsticks together with a rousing "ONE, TWO, THREE, FOUR") and Abigail loves shaking the maracas. We think that they will be quite the musicians - they love to sing and they love music. We have caught them singing Frère Jacques in rounds, and they have harmonized more than once on other tunes!

As an experiment, we pulled their hair back into ponytails and took some pictures. Beautiful!

September 2 - Again, with the new found interest in their baby dolls, Sydney and Abigail love to stroll their dolls around the house - chasing each other and crashing into each other, too. So we thought we should take it to the streets - we strapped the dolls in to the strollers and set off down the street. The girls really enjoyed pushing their dolls around and are feeling like such big, independent girls.

September 8 - Off to St. Louis for a farewell dinner and "roast" of Rebekah's parents. Have we told everyone yet? Her parents are moving to Nashville! Yes, building a house, jobs, the whole deal - and one of the main reasons are Sydney and Abigail. Anyway, while we were in St. Louis we dropped by the zoo - the girls loved the elephants and the sea lions!

September 15 - A 2-year old birthday party with pony rides, professional photography with props, digging for gold, face painting and a catered lunch - what's not to like?

September 22 - Daddy figured that Sydney and Abigail are finally old enough to "help" with the Saturday car washing duties. See below pictures (and try not to stare too long at Abigail's "hot pants"!). Much fun was had by all - soaked 2 year olds included.