Beating the Heat

Whether it's watering the flowers or jumping through the spray aimed on the trampoline, water makes all the difference!
The boys and our neighbor Daniel took turns spraying each other as they jumped. Good fun!

Lace in the Morning

Yesterday morning we spent a little time in a big patch of Queen Ann's Lace by the side of the road, across the street from the lake in our neighborhood. It's a little stretch of road we pass by often, and I had noticed over the last week that the Queen Ann's Lace was in full bloom there. It was so fun push our way into the middle of the lovely tall wild flowers... like the a morning by a creek, it's the kind of consumate summer experience I dream about all winter! Afterwards we climbed the hill overlooking the lake and hung out there a while, me on my back in the grass looking up at the sky, and the kids in the trees. Enjoy the pictures!

Time to Smell the Roses

Mommy told me not to step in the dirt with my white sandles, so I have to balance carefully to lean close enough to smell this flower!

A Picture I Like

Taken last week, at Blackwell Forest Preserve. Smiles are wonderful, but sometimes the pensive look is so very sweet. What is she thinking?

Girls Drive Cars

Did you know it was fun even without putting in a quarter?! Madelyn and Gwen went from swimming to driving at the hotel at Caleb's baseball tournament last weekend.

New Shades

Madelyn and Gwen sport their new sunglasses in the hallway of the hotel we stayed in last weekend for Caleb's baseball tournament. Gwen watched Madelyn closely with the glasses and soon was resting them on top of her head, looking very cool!

The Bottle Thing

I guess I am issuing a retraction. The whole "no more bottle" deal fell apart after the first night (which went without a hitch- go figure!). We decided it wasn't a hill we were ready to die on yet, with Gwen being only two and it her main sorce of comfort at bedtime. I'm not sure why she did so well without it that first night, but let me tell you, she did NOT do well the next. You all know I'm a firm believer in sticking to your guns, but after much discussion Scott and I decided we will stick to our guns on this issue a little later!

Summer Day

Today was the kind of summer day that I love. By mid morning the kids and I were on our way to a nearby forest preserve, with sunscreen, camera, and some trail mix in tow. We played in the water, walked across the little waterfall, spotted and almost caught a huge frog, watched a snake dart his head out of the rocks, got a little muddy and a little wet. We flopped out in the grass to read "Finding God in Narnia" (I recommend it!) after our water play, but before the chapter was over the kids realized that there were blackberry bushes with ripe berries on them growing in the tangle of green around us. The trail mix was gone by now, and thus a perfect container for collecting the berries in was available. The boys went at the picking with a vision... "Mom, do you think we can get enough for a pie?" I was doubtful, but I said we might. Madelyn joined in, after a temporary stint of wanting to just get her own berries, and contributed to the common bucket. Gwen followed me from one bush to the next, begging for berries. Her hands and tongue were stained with purple before we were through! In the end our container was nearly full, and let me tell you that the resulting pie, that Seth made this afternoon with only a little help, was delicious!

The activities of this morning reminded me of when I was a girl. Picking blackberries in the meadow behind our house. Creating adventures in the woods. Playing house under the pine tree in the back yard. Wading in the freezing creek with the smooth slate bottom, the one behind the duck pond at the park, on scorching hot days. Being outside like that, away from the house and the cul-de-sac and things that provide "entertainment", tends to take me back to my childhood. Things seem simple and good.

Give me a sunny morning with a creek and some blackberry bushes any day... it's the best kind of fun there is. Thanks, Mom, for showing me.

Celebration

Can't stop moving my feet...

Gwen dances to the music at the pre-fireworks concert at our church picnic! She was awed by the fireworks~ concerned that they were hot and "owie" like the sparkler she got burned on the weekend before, but once we established that they were far away, she loved them!

American Girl

Happy Fourth of July from Gwen!