By Popular Demand: Rheinhart!

It's been nearly a week since my last post. There's not much to report in the way of cheesemaking, goat farming, etc. because we've been out of town since last Thursday. We spent a great weekend in Philadelphia at the wedding extravaganza of our good friends, Anna and James. In sum, the food was fantastic, the weather was great, and we felt footloose (pun intended: Shelly's foot felt healthy enough at the reception that she could even dance a little bit!) and fancy free--especially because Rheinhart stayed behind here in Ohio under the care of the grandparents.

And since there's nothing agricultural to share...and since so many of you have requested that I post some pictures of Hart, here they are. Mr. Mom's Six Summer Highlights with Hart:

Highlight #1: Too Too Tains

Hart's favorite parts of our visit to the Akron Zoo had nothing to do with animals, although he was into them at first. He had the most fun riding on the small train ("too too tain") pictured above and romping around at the playground ("paygound"). For Rheinhart, this has been the summer of the choo choo train. He's OBSESSED with them.

There's a lot of train traffic in and around Kent, and any time he hears the blast of a train's horn, his face washes over with a really serious expression and he says: "Hear too too tain!" We've indulged him by stopping to watch trains pass under a bridge near my parents' house (where I'm sure we looked like the village idiots to passersby), and we've played and played and played with toy trains. Ezra, Abbe's six-year old son, has outgrown his collection of Thomas the Tank Engine toys, so he sold many of them to us for a small price (he's saving up and moving on to Legos). In addition, I've built and rebuilt a Lincoln Log train set for Hart at least a dozen times. Here he is sharing a mix of all his train stuff with his cousins Logan (left) and Carson (right):

Highlight #2: Swimming

We've gone swimming a few times every week. As previously mentioned on this blog, we graduated from parent-toddler swim class at the RHS pool a few weeks back. Did I mention that we were the only parent and toddler in the class? ...It was interesting (read: mostly awkward), to say the least, but as a result, Rheinhart has a greater sense of confidence around the water.

Our favorite spots are Headlands Beach on Lake Erie, the beach at West Branch State Park (above), and my uncle's pool (We call him Uncle Eddie; Hart calls him "Uncle Buddy"). Here he is at Uncle Buddy's just before taking a dip:

Highlight #3: At the Paygound!

We do a lot of playgrounding in the city, and we've done a lot of it here too. It seems that everywhere we drive there's a new playground on the horizon. We often hear "paygound!" from the back seat before we even see it ourselves, and then we have to spend the next five minutes distracting the little guy (or else...). At the moment, the favorite place to play is behind Davey School (where I went to junior high!). Below, Rheinhart is trying out another kid's bike at the American Playground in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. The picture was taken back over Memorial Day weekend.

Highlight #4: Hiking

Thanks to my friend Bess, we've acquired a great backpack perfect for kinder transport during hiking. We've used the pack several times, but the two most memorable hikes were on the 4th of July weekend at Ritchie Ledges in Cuyahoga Valley National Park with our DC friends, Kirk, Amylia and Baby Lane--

--and a hot Saturday afternoon escape to the shade of Towner's Woods, just outside of Kent--

--where we hiked along the beautiful shores of Lake Pippen.

Highlight #5: Lake Farm Park

In Mid-July we made a weekend visit to Lake Farm Park in Kirtland, Ohio. The park is part of the Lake County Metro Parks system and is home to sheep, goats, cows, horses, llamas, and--Rheinhart's personal favorite--farm equipment:

It just so happens that the weekend we were there was part of ice cream week, which meant a free "ice keem" sundae for all visitors. Rheinhart loved it:

Highlight #6: Appas and Ampas

One of the best fringe benefits of the whole farm experience has been all of the time Hart's had to get to know all of his grandparents, whom he calls "Appa Pan" (Grandma Pam), "Ampa Daybip" (Grandpa David), "Ampa Rick" (self-explanatory), "Appa Doan" (Grandma Joan), and "Oma" (Oma Carmen--he can handle that one). Here he is reading with Ampa Daybip:

...and here he is at the Farm Park, all excited to find another paygound with Appa Doan:

I could keep going with the highlights, but I think you get the point: it's been a fun summer for Rheinhart too. I should take a minute to say thanks to all of the grandparents, and to my sisters-in-law, Jen and Samantha, who have helped to take care of Hart while we do our farm and cheese thing. Hart says "sank yooo" too.