Family Outing

For the first time since Rachel was born Andrew has some time off school. We considered going somewhere since we had Thursday night through Monday to play with, but then we realized that we needed to be here since we're blessing Rachel this Sunday.

We consoled ourselves by having a wonderful picnic up in the South Fork Park of Provo Canyon. It was beautiful. The trees are just starting to change colors for fall. It was pleasantly cool, but warm enough that the mosquitoes weren't out yet.

I had my 6-week check-up on Thursday and was given a clean bill of health and granted permission to "return to full activity without any restrictions." Rachel screamed the whole time. I think she felt she got the bad end of the deal. After all, mom got a full examination and all she got was a t-shirt. (Trust me, Rachel, the t-shirt is the better end of the deal, trust me.)

In honor of my official healthy status we played Frisbee and I turned some cartwheels. I can now take leave of maternity leave, which means I'll actually have to work on Harman and *shudder* vacuum. The other day Andrew and I were walking and he said, "Rachel's almost 6 weeks old."

"I know," I responded, "Then I'll be done with maternity."

"Leave," said Andrew.

"What? Why?" I asked, slightly offended that he would tell me to go away. Me.

"No, you'll be done with maternity leave," he explained, "Not maternity. I hate to break it to you but you're going to be a mother for forever."

If I'm going to be a mother for forever, at least I'll have Andrew there to cheer me up when things get tough. He's like all three stooges rolled into one.

Andrew biffs it playing Frisbee

We also went into the Provo River...a little bit. It was freezing cold! There were all these little kids going in and playing around--one kid in diapers was going in up to his waist and splashing around. I couldn't believe it. I waded into my ankles before I couldn't stand it anymore. Rachel let her big toe touch the water before she recoiled. Andrew waded into the middle of the river and then ran back out as fast as he could. It was definitely really cold.

Rachel also wasn't very fond of the grass. We're going to keep trying to introduce her to new textures, but she's a pretty picky baby.

Pick me up!

All in all it was a wonderful evening. Sure, we got a few stares from the people at the family reunion, but we had fun. I wonder what we'll do tomorrow...any ideas?

For more pictures, click here.