Boat ride with some special friends!

The crew aboard ship...complete with pizza and root beer!!!

Launching the raft the "boys" made before we left the house ...with newspaper sail added! (attached to the fishing pole string to tow behind the big boat!) They had a blast with this!

The raft in the "rapids." :-)

One of our trusty captains! :-)

...and another one.




Launching a newspaper boat...one of many made my Leah for everyone.




Watching it float away...




Logan and his buddy, taking in the paper before it gets folded into a boat.




Trevin and his boat he's about to launch.

First Black Swallowtail to emerge!

It seems like it's been forever since I first collected the Black Swallowtail eggs off of my parsley plants, but finally the first one has emerged from its chrysalis. 8 more to go I believe. (2 more came out on Sunday.)

Camping!

Last minute camping trip to a nearby lake...wonderful!
Beautiful, peaceful setting...well until some neighbors moved in who somehow had gotten their days and nights mixed up. Argh! At least we had the morning to ourselves.


Our little helper caught helping!

Our campsite

Doing some rock skipping!

Storytime by flashlight!

1st Day of School!

Our 1st Grader!

Checking out their shadows


Dad has a backpack too!


The boys and Mommy


The boys and Daddy

Brothers!

Waiting on "the line." - We've specified a crack on the driveway where Trevin can wait for the bus and not be too near the road. :-)

Goofin' off while waiting for the bus.



Finally the bus is here! Off to school!

Hungry baby cardinals!

Little beggars...

Summertime show!

Sunflower

Moss rose

Salvia and moth(?)

Butterfly weed (hope the monarchs find this one!)

Exterior decorating

Gotta love the end-of-summer clearance racks. And there's still enough nice weather left to enjoy my new garden decorations, too!

This one says "Love grows here."

Enjoying summer's harvest!

This is what it's like to eat corn on the cob when you only have one front tooth on top. :-)

Yum, yum!!!

New babies!

Not ours...Papa and Mama cardinals'! :-)



Here's Papa in the background trying to get close (if this pesky photographer would ever leave!) ...the nest is in this little maple tree on the right...isn't even in the ground yet, and they've built a nest.

The nest

The little ones...brand spankin' new! (No, they're not exactly pretty yet.) Only one shell left in the nest...the parents must get rid of the shell after they hatch...so he must be really new!

Waiting for food...any time I would bump the nest or rustle close by, that little beak would open up WIDE!


Here are the eggs before they hatched...rather pretty!