end of the summer part 2

I know, summer is long past. But I look back on these posts as a narrative of our life, and we might not remember how goofy we all got with Dan's brother's family the summer three of us had our first fancy phones and tried to be cool and take selfies. I'm sharing one, but trust me, there were many.

We are a big group when we're together, and mostly we eat and play and eat and play and...well, you get the idea! Happily, that is what we do.

Once in a while, when the weather cooperates and the mosquitoes aren't hovering, we get out for a hike together, which is also lovely. This time it was to Stephens Falls at Governor Dodge park. I hadn't been on this particular hike, and it was beautiful; lush with moss and ferns and water.

 

I also have only been to Governor Dodge once - for cross-country skiing - and not gone swimming, so in we went.

brothers

the annual reading of Molly Whuppie around the campfire

We see this family once a year, and it is mostly watching Ani play with the youngers that squeezes my heart with sadness. They fall into it with such love and affection, figuring out how best to include everyone.  She truly fits in with this bunch, content in the middle of the action.

We are still getting to know the youngest, but did she have us wrapped around her finger! Dan and I took a van full of kids over to his parents for a game night, and in the car she pointed out the drink holders and said, you know what we sometimes use these for? Custard! Frozen custard! Below is evidence of her immense powers.

  

Until next time, dear ones...

June

It's only a week past the Solstice, and already I feel like we've had Summer on Steroids around here - trips and visits and swims and the ocean, and to be honest, I'm ready for some lying about, reading and drinking ice water and reading some more. A bit of a vacation from the vacation.

Dan's got a new job this summer - well, the fruiting body of the long mycelium roots of his new job, to put it in fungal terms, as he's truly been working at this job for over a year. He is the Artistic Director of Tantrum, a new theater with two homes: here at Ohio University, where they rehearse and build the shows, and up in Dublin, north of Columbus, where the season is performed.  Our summer was really kicked off with the opening of Little Shop of Horrors at the beginning of June and it hasn't stopped!

Dan is a bit Ohio-bound this summer with this job, so the girls and I are on our own for some travels. After the opening, we drove to Virginia to visit friends we've had since we lived there eight years ago. We convinced them to travel to the coast with us, which they did willingly, driving to Virginia Beach and Chincoteague, by way of the twenty-three mile long Chesapeake Bay Bridge and Tunnel.

I think one should visit the ocean every summer. Isn't that reasonable?

Off to fight mosquitoes  find ponies and birds

Eagle spotted! and Sika Elk

and many swallows

ponies - can you see them staying cool in the trees?

We stayed in a beautiful house on Chincoteague that boasted an original owner who raised Black Diamond Terrapin, owned a shop, took people out in boats to go fishing, and whittled decoys - but what I was excited about was the white ibis who regularly patrolled the yard.

treasures. many, many treasures.

 Not pictured: humongous ice cream cones, eaten before dinner; a living horseshoe crab in the shallow water on the beach, smooth slipper shells covering its carapace; a pony and her foal, visible through the binoculars; wheeling egrets as numerous as a flock of canada geese; the breeze that filtered through the porch screens in the morning and evening, making you wish you could actually stay for the whole entire summer...

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The rest of our time in Richmond was spent hanging out with more friends and visiting the Ginter Botanical Garden,  following butterflies and lego creations around the park.

the elusive sixteen-yr-old

a lego rose

Magic: the Gathering

making faces for Face Swap

Summer.

ahh, old buddies.

Little Shop closed this past weekend, we've had two sets of houseguests, and the girls and I are off on our last June adventure, camping for a few days in West Virginia.  July is looking alluringly normal: reading, drinking ice water, and reading some more...