He’s getting ready for the show...

Taking the week off for Phish shows.
The kids are experiencing a right of passage: a summer week with cousins, aunts, uncles, and grandparents. They are swimming and eating hot dogs and macaroni and cheese.
We are listening to NPR and dropping swear words at need without shame.
We are sleeping late and eating late.
We are paying the teenager next door to water our tomatoes
and missing morning giggles and kisses and the ruffling of blond hair.

in the theater of divine comedy...

This past week, Ollie and Eli participated in a fantastically funny drama camp wherein they worked all week on a comedy. I have a few clips of the final product, but the lovely hosts, parents of three boys, also had lots of outdoor toys for the kids to enjoy, including this zip line. Ollie was a ham and Eli was pouty and nervous, but the highlight for the whole week as this thing.

I can see the day coming when even your home garden Is gonna be against the law...

Every year I get braver around my tiny garden area and plant a little more. It brings me such joy! Above, my most abundant crop, marigolds!

Broccoli and new to the plot, cucumbers.

Couple of maters...

And, my absolute favorite, snow peas! These are so yummy and crisp.

Carrots!

An onion, that, by the way I had no idea would bloom so beautifully..

A bloomed marigold and corn, heirloom from the mobi Indians..

She was thinkin’ ’bout her father, who she very rarely saw....

I did sew more.
This week was VBS which I did not help out with at all!
I have felt a smidgen of guilt a couple of times, but in truth and defense, I did have to work a bit during that time, and as my mom reminded me, I can work VBS another year when I am not already with me kids 24/ 7. So as a self indulgent treat, I made gifts.

I made a few capes for two little boys celebrating birthdays this week, and arm-chair caddy's for our daddies.

Cheesy, maybe, but I have such a hard time figuring out crafty things to make for dads. Girls are easy..I whip up some jewelry or something knit, but what do you make for guys?

Generally, I am really bad at following patterns and directions because I have never taken a class and feel lost when technical terms pop-up, but I did okay with these two endeavors. The cape, I just made up and the caddies, I had written instructions for. The material is all leftovers from previous projects. What are you making for father's day?

Two big bags...(well, 3, but that's how Bobby D sings it)

So, I can sew..
While Ollie was at soccer camp this week, I made bags! I had such fun doing them, as I haven't sewn in too long.

The material I've kept for ages with the intention of someday using, and it is always a joy to dip through my bin reminiscing about old fabric from dresses or curtains or even furniture that I have loved. These fabrics feel like old friends and I am pleased to bring them out of the closet.

What has he done to wear so many scars?...

Because I thought you should know, Eli called me a craw-mommy this week on our hike this weekend(which is similar to a crawdaddy). We frolicked under water falls and swam in the cool, cool water. Ollie also slipped and put a good gash in his shin. I'll spare you the photos of it, but he's still wearing a good bandage. Waterfalls are worth the pain, he thinks...

That place where the bones of life are piled....

Okay, a few more from Dad's.
Ollie wanted to collect every bone he found so that he could reconstruct it for our museum.

Horses, mules, martins, and barn swallows. We also saw an owl! Nature in the country.

On a hot summer day, hot summer lawn....

Celebrating Pump-o's big 4th birthday with 18 of our closest friends and their families means summer is really here.

Watermelons, tire swing, kiddie pool, slip-n-slide, water balloons, and FUN!

Oh, yes, art and the new sandbox!

scattered in the wild wind....

Wild plums, blackberries not quite ripe, and black-eyed susans..Flora from Bama...

There’s frogs inside my socks.....

My dad recently moved to Alabama, his place of birth, and it is hands down, one of the best places for Grandpa to live. I took many good pictures of flora and fauna, and am going to break them up over the next few days. We stayed outside the entire time we were there exploring and pretending to be farm hands.

On a quick trip to the gas station to check our email (dad's doesn't have service) we picked up a hitchhiker of sorts.

He probably lived here.

In this bog full of lily pads and teeming with life...

especially dragon flies and birds.
We saw a whooping crane elegantly pass overhead, but I didn't capture him.

At night, the chorus of frogs and toads permeated the air. The sound was deafeningly loud. I have never heard so many frogs in one place. You can't see them here, but you can hear them. We sat under the stars in open mouth amazement at their rhythm.