Summertime Doings

Tractor at the town fair/parade.
I have curly hair too...just like this!
The girls in the parking lot before the parade. They marched with a bunch of "bookaneers" from the town library summer program. Ooh were they ever mad to find out that daddy, mommy, and little brother got to ride in a speed boat down mains street with our teacher friends and a boatload of their children.

The last of the raspberries...I'm still amazed that those vines were right under our noses all this time! These two just look like they belong together. It made me happy posing them.

After The Storm

This is just some of what settled after the storm. The hardest part was my garden. It got hit pretty hard. I had to pull out several plants because they were so badly damaged. The tomatoes are hanging in there. The beans no longer have their poles but continue to move forward. The trees fell like dominoes on the hill in the back of the house. Thankfully none of them fell on the house. Strangely they all fell UPhill. And the first picture is just the beauty of the force of mother nature!

I don't have much to post about. It's summer and I've been wonderfully busy with absolutely nothing to do all at the same time. I just finished a book called Eat, Pray, Love, by Elizabeth Gilbert. All I can say is GO READ IT RIGHT NOW. This is my new favorite book. I identified with the author on so many levels. I've been living the last week in a dizzy cloud of thoughts...
I have pictures to upload but it's taking to long and I have other things to do... I'll be back someday!

Balloons Over The House

We were eating dinner on the front deck when one of the kids noticed these two in the distance. Usually they just disappear on the horizon after a few minutes and we all go back to our daily lives...but...

they kept getting closer and closer. You can see this one nearing the house across the street. One of them actually went down for a landing not to far from the house but they later changed their mind and started airing up again.
Here they come. The big question from the kids was, "are they gonna hit the house?" or maybe I said that, I don't know.
It was complete chaotic excitement when this one came right over the house and we waved at each other. It was even quiet and close enough to hear them talking!
The second balloon slid by in the trees next to the house...then the whole family (5 of us) ran out to the back of the house to see if we could follow them up the hill. They were going faster then we could move so I had the bright idea to jump into the car and follow them. The kids were jumping up and down screaming and as we all piled into the car in a matter of seconds...

We followed both of them for a few country miles and finally settled on watching this one navigate itself over a cornfield.

and safely into the grass. It was quite an adrenaline rush! I felt like a storm chaser!

This Is What Happens...

When You Leave The Porch Light On All Night!! We woke up to find her sitting on the house. After observing it for awhile we noticed she was laying eggs!

Berries

My neighbor was out picking berries the other day and after having helped her I discovered that we too had berries growing all over our (totally unlandscaped) yard!! The kids had fun picking and eating them right off the vines and we actually had enough to eat for dessert that night. After dinner we checked the back hill only to find double the amount from the side yard. There are plenty that need to ripen so that we can freeze them for later use.

This is the backyard. There are a ton of weeds but also quite a few berry bushes in the mix. I had to blaze a trail for the kids to follow me.
It had rained quite a bit in the days before so it was very slippery on the hill. You can see P picking the lowest berries. I could not get them up the hill far enough to do very much picking and it was a challenge for me to stretch and pick that high up with the hill. We may have to build a few stepping stones into the hill for me.
I love the different colors.

Trip Home Part 1

Here are some pictures of my trip home last week. All went well (for the most part). My parents dropped the news that they have decided to move into a condo/nursing home. It's one of those places where all they have to do is say the word and there are people there to help. I could tell that my mom wasn't being genuine when she said how happy she was about it. I told her that I was happy that they were happy but I wasn't thrilled that they would be selling the house. Even though I've been out of their house for over 20 years it is still "home" to me. It will be strange to visit home and have to stay in a hotel in a strange suburb miles from where I grew up. But then again, it's not about me. I get that...

Clevleland, Ohio


Reflection of the Terminal Tower
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
The kids were very curious about all of the garbage in the water. They spent the better part of an hour calling out the things they could find. It was like playing "Where's Waldo?" The other highlights of the day were the revolving doors at the museum and the escalator at the mall...we sure are raising small town kids! I'm happy that they were able to see and digest some city life and culture.