Late in May 2019 I went to visit my younger brother, Noah, in Thurmont, Maryland. He recently bought a house with Tyler, his girlfriend and mother of his 2 month old. Raegan Lynn Davis is the first grandchild in my family, and she is joined by Tyler’s children Hadly and Blaine.
I’m so excited to be the proud aunt of niece, nephew, and niecelet!
Raegan’s toes
Thurmont struck me as incredibly green and lush farmland. Spaces ranged from crops, horse pens, and solar panel patches. While I was visiting, Tyler was farm-sitting for two different establishments, and around 7 a.m. the next morning we packed up so she could feed the horses and chickens.
They set Raegan down in her car seat rocker in the barn where she cooed and drank her bottle that she could prop up with her hands and the aid of a blanket. Within minutes, Hadly, four, found a toad.
Hadly, four, and Blaine, five, with their toad.
On the way to Tyler’s grandparents, we stopped through Dunkin Donuts drive-through for coffee. Here are Hadly’s short lived-tears upon hearing she could not order her own cup of coffee.
Raegan, wide eyed.
lounging on the porch swing
After breakfast, our next stop was to feed Tyler’s three horses, which are boarded on a large plot of land just a few miles from their new house.
Rosco, who is too old to ride
Syrah, the only female, the clear boss of the herd
Noah with Syrah
I was floored with how comfortable the kids were winding between the horses. Here is Blaine getting some love from Rosco.
Next, we went to visit Tyler’s mother’s farm.
Blaine with a baby goat
Shake, the goat
There was a huge feeding trough full of plastic balls, which proved the ultimate photo opp for Blaine
Raegan looks SO MUCH like Noah here, especially her perpetual static electricity hair (which I’m pretty sure is going to be strawberry blonde like her big brother Blaine’s!)
Notice how Blaine, Hadly, and Raegan all have the same print on their outfits!
Getting sleepy in Dad’s arms
Raegan is the ultimate mimic, constantly cooing, listening to how words form, and sticking her tongue out to try to mimic similar shapes with her mouth.
During a break, I got to hold Raegan. I laid her out on my lap and made expressions and sounds for her to try to mimic and giggle over.
Hadly and Blaine went to swim at their great-grandparents while we went to Tyler’s last farm-sitting job to feed turkeys, geese, chickens, great pyrenees, sheep, pigs, and a cow.
Olaf
We went back to Tyler’s Grandparents for their traditional Sunday dinner with extended family. The weather was overcast while a thunderstorm was brewing—always the perfect light for shots of the kids post-swim in their matching lobster print suits.
Blaine lassoing me. Among my first 24 hours with these kids, I quickly remembered the easiest phrase to help me interact with them among their barrages of “Hey Audrey!” which is: “Show me!.”
Love the outtakes just as much!
The next day we hiked and enjoyed the view of High Rock Overlook.
High Rock Overlook
Hadly’s worm
Group snapshot—note Hadly’s worm
We ended the day visiting Tyler’s third horse, Carrot, a former racehorse.
Nick, Carrot’s “neigh”bor
Hadly playing nerf guns with Blaine and a set of twin boys, one of which was wearing a V-for-Vendetta mask
That golden hour glow
Another batch of worms À La Hadly
The next day we went to the zoo, and then my family came over for dinner.
A riveting game of duck-duck-goose
They ADORE my sister Chaste. The minute she walks in the door, Hadly drags her into their playroom in the basement and demands that Chaste pretend to be a dead dog.
Honor, Mom, Chaste, and Hadly
We celebrated Honor’s graduation, not only from high school, but also an Associates degree from taking dual credit community college classes. Beyond proud!
Honor is LA bound and plans to attend Studio School in the fall to study screen writing!
We were so fortunate to have permission to use Tyler’s Aunt’s property to take advantage of this incredible view of Thurmont. First full family photo since the new addition. Minutes before we took this, Raegan found some relief and milk-puked all over Noah (note the strategic placement of the baby blanket).
Mom and her grandchild
Me and Raegan, still fussy before she found relief all over Noah’s shirt :)
Honor and Raegan
Chaste and Hadly with her candy bar
Hadly wanted to match and demanded access to Chaste’s lipstick, to which Chaste inexplicably consented.
The perfect opportunity for a mini shoot with my muse
The sweetest mom and daughter moment
The cutest couple!
