Summer Wildlife

Although raccoons are incredible pests, you have to admit, the babies are pretty adorable! The mama has been bringing her 4 new charges onto the deck late every afternoon to scrounge for birdseed or whatever else we happen to have out there.

This little guy has been scampering through the yard this spring/summer but found our front door mat tasty for some reason so Tara was able to get some fun shots up close.

Hello there!

Time to move on!

Wait. 

What are these creatures? 

Could it be the rarely seen "Lasagnanoodleeatinggirls" we've heard about? 

How did they get into my kitchen anyway?

And then...

While the girls were out (unfortunately) one afternoon last week, I (Mom) was able to watch as four baby warblers ventured out of the birdhouse to try flying for the first time. It was so cute to watch!

The last one was just a little too comfortable to come out.  He waited a good hour or so after the other 3 were practicing their new flying skill in the pine tree behind him before finally venturing out.

And there you have our summer wildlife summary so far...

And then it was summer...

Where has the time gone? I suppose it's about time to put an update on this blog... if there is still anyone out there reading it. :-)

Let's see... way back in April we visited our aunt and uncle and cousins in Indiana for a weekend, and while we were "in the area" we took a jaunt over to the Creation Museum. It was very well done; I don't know that I would necessarily go back. I'm not really a museum person - I didn't want to stop and read everything and there was a LOT to read. I think it would be more interesting to someone who didn't already know the information. :-)

They have a beautiful garden area with lots of bridges and paths. That was actually my favorite part!

The first display once you're inside the museum.

Tara walking through the "cave"!

It is very distressing that in a cave, using flash is a must. *sigh*

After the Ark room they had a neat miniature model of the ark cut in half so you could see the structure of it.

An uncle and three cousins goofing off at Gander Mountain.

Next would the the formal dance we attended, graciously hosted by Mrs. Linhart. The long story is that Tara made a dress for a contest, and part of the rules were that you had to attend a formal dance wearing the dress. So our friend Mrs. Linhart, who had been wanting to have a dance at her house, hosted it in honor of the dress. :-) We roped some of our friends into coming (thanks Laura, Joanna & Joseph!) and danced away! Laura came over early to get ready with us and spend the night.

Tara was our hair dresser as usual... she's so obliging! I took this picture on Laura's camera... which is AMAZING, even if it is a Nikon. ;-)

Edited by Laura

Curls! Maybe I should have worn it just like that - what do you think? :-)

Photo by Laura

Mirror shot!

Photo by Laura (if you didn't catch that already)

Sokea, Emily and I enjoying Mrs. L's lovely screen porch before the dance.

Photo by Laura

Mrs. L's house was perfect for the setting (it was sort of a Regency themed dance, though I was the only one dressed authentically :-). The gentleman in the middle of the photo was the dance caller and he did a great job keeping us all in line.

Photo by Laura

Friends making breakfast (or rather, pausing in the making of breakfast to take a picture).

Let's see... what else happened? Oh, we met the Hills at the soccer field to watch one of Justin's games. I am hopeless at sports so when the game was over I had to ask who won... but I had fun taking pictures and the lighting was great! :-)

Go #52!

It was a tie. I think.

The Erbers had a 50's party at their house... talk about fun! Nearly everyone dressed up in some way. Beth took a picture of Tara and I in our dresses, but I'll have to see if she'll let me have it. :-)

The bubblegum blowing contest... makes for very flattering facial expressions, eh?

Beth gets the biggest bubble! Though I think after the contest was officially over, Mrs. Beatty got one just as big.

Joanna armed with her whipped cream

Jessica at her glamorous best. ;-)

I think the most recent "event" was our weekend trip to our friends' lake house in Indiana. We went with extended family and had a relaxing few days on the lake. We used to go there a lot when Tara and I were little so it was fun to go back after so many years. We call this "The Smits' Cottage" and a very large cottage it is (though the scary thing is that the neighboring "cottages" look huge in comparison).

The front view

The back view

Restful...

The view out the back door

Ya think we brought enough food?

Tara resting on the rocks.

Ok, that was for effect... she was posing for me. :-)

I got to go tubing for the first time... that was interesting. :-) It was fun but wild! Notice in the picture Kerry and Michelle are waving and I'm clinging to the tube for dear life!

So there you are... you're all caught up on our spring. Now it's summer... let's see if I can manage to update a bit more often. :-)

Ashlei's Visit

Last week we had the immense pleasure of having my friend Ashlei come to visit me for my birthday! And not just for that day, actually for 10 days! I haven't seen her in two years and the last time was only a brief lunch visit, so this was a great time to spend time together and get to know each other better.

Our first stop was JoAnn! Ashlei lives in a tiny tourist town in Alaska, and doesn't have many fabric options for her sewing projects (to give you an idea of how small her town is, there is no McDonald's and there is no Starbucks! The horror!). We got fabric to make skirts together and were busy with that for the next two days.

Girly night! Rag curls, smearing our faces in Alaskan mud, foot soaks and watching Emma! 

And frightening ourselves when we looked in the mirror. Yep.

Here's what happens when you take those rag curls and brush them out... well, except for Tara's. She washed hers out too early so Ashlei invented something to make her fit in. :-)

Time for tea... we did the whole nine yards - dressing up, fine china, and lots of goodies!

Friends!

Thursday rolled around, and after our visit to the retirement home, we came home for a harp trio! Yes, Ashlei plays harp too! Here she is playing my harp. She will be getting one just like it in a few weeks!

It was going to be a harp quartet, but Kristen wasn't well and couldn't make it. :-( (We missed you, Kristen!)

Laura and Mrs. LaPrise still came, though, and we very much enjoyed their company!

(Very spontaneous photo... I smile too big :-)

Sorry, Raeanne, it seems we entirely missed you in the photographic record of the occasion. :-( We do, however, have videographic (if that's a word) proof of you, which I may post. *naughty grin*

Next up was a shopping trip to Target, where Ashlei has not been in 3 years. Per her brother Nathaniel's instructions, she tried on a trench coat, and looked quite... well, yeah.

Friday (Dad's birthday) was birthday dinner out at Texas de Brazil... here is my delicious papaya cream dessert. Mmmmm....

Since my birthday fell on Sunday this year, we did presents, etc. on Saturday.

On Saturday night, Dad took Ashlei and me to a harp concert downtown at the Lyon & Healy concert hall! Before the concert started, the harp showroom was open so Ashlei and I played on the pedal harps for nearly an hour. :-) Heaven! (sorry, we have kind of a lot of pictures from this... if you aren't as crazy about harps as we are, you can stop reading now. :-)

"Ashlei, you are playing a $32,000 harp!"

The two of us in front of the stage after the concert. Jana Bouskova (the harpist we saw) was simply incredible! We were in awe. Thanks for taking us, Daddy!!!

It was wonderful having you, Ashlei... we need to do it again soon!