The Great Outdoors in August

Here's our family after a long hike up a little mountain at Devil's Lake. I was pretty tired when we got to the top... sitting in the backpack for a whole hour would wear you out, too!

We mostly play at the parks near our house, though. Mom thinks that if she lets us play at the playground, then we'll be good while she does a 20 minutes of gardening... obviously she hasn't learned, and the mosquitoes haven't lightened up, so I'll keep on climbing.

Mary's a pretty good climber, too. She chases me down the slide and tries to race me up the ladder. I'm going to catch her one day soon!

Dad is an old guy

Dad turned 30 last week!



(and uncle Jeremy did the week before that)
But he could still breathe at the top of Pike's Peak, so I guess he's not THAT old.

And he is finishing his PhD and having his third baby, so I guess his years have been productive.

And he is still Super Strong.



But that is a LOT of candles!

(30 candles for each of them... on one yummy chocolate cake... with thirty Gillespies around... singing 7 birthday songs... it got a little waxy:)

We love you DAD!