Summer - a retrospective.

I'm away right now. I'm travelling to a surprise party for my mother-in-law, so I scheduled this retrospective post. Pictures from the summer that I never got a chance to post.

Hannah with a caterpillar she found. Look how short her hair is.


It's not as bad as it looks.


Playing in the laundry.


Did I post this one? I love this one.


My forlorn horse girl. She was waiting for me to have a second to help her get the pony out.


I got the pony, and after riding it for awhile, her sister talked her into walking the pony while *she* rode.


Oh, relax. I was there the whole time. Pictures add ten feet.


Ains practicing her "scared" look. She was being scared of a soda can when I took this picture, I believe.


Ains with the horses she carried around for a week. They're her sister's horses. You can tell by the haircuts.


She tried to get them to pull the cart.


She brought the rocking horse out to the barn so she could ride while I milked the goats.


Hannah decided to grow a beard.


Grayson and Ains in chairs. Not sure why Grayson is looking Hobbit-y. Ains is nursing the pink poodle.


Just had to throw this one in there. Hannah's cousin Bella. Look at those lips!


Gray got patriotic over Independence Day.


Cute cousins.


Cute sisters.


Ains on her grandma's trampoline.




Hannah writing letters while swinging.


Girls picking cherries.


Hannah, the little lady (just look at those crossed legs), helping pick cattails. More on that later...


Gray sleeping in a hammock while I garden. It was much warmer then. *sigh*


Hannah climbing into the orchard to pick cherries. OLM, I want you to bring your kids to visit next summer - we'd have so much fun! We're only three hours north...

Leaves

We've finally been getting some beautiful fall days here. When there's no chilling 45 mph wind blowing, the weather's actually quite nice.

Nice enough to play in piles of leaves.


I raked the leaves up, and tossed the girls for awhile. They played on their own for awhile, asking me to rake the leaves back into a pile when needed. Then Daddy came home. He fluffed the leaves into a tall pile with the pitchfork.


Then he started throwing the kids around.

You have to spin them to get a good throw.


He got a good throw.


A really good throw.


I was kind of worried about the little one.


She did fine - he didn't give her as much air.


Though she still had a hard time letting go.


Hannah wanted to go again.


On the third time she didn't let go - she'd tried that trick with me earlier and learned that if you didn't let go of a spinning large human who was trying to throw you that they would fall into the pile. I didn't warn him.


Then she wouldn't let him up.


You'd think a four year old couldn't hold a grown man down, wouldn't you?


When you've got your sister's help, anything's possible. "Dream big" is what I teach my kids.


Though if you leave your little sister there and run, she might need to be saved. Look at her, reaching out, asking for somebody, anybody to come save her.


Oh, good. I teach them that too.


Something I learned - little kids jumping into a pile of leaves for hours at a time will not only strengthen a mother's muscles (from raking the leaves back into a pile for the hundred-and-eleventieth time), but it will shred those leaves pretty dang good. That pile is now about one-third the size it was when we started.

Enjoying the fall.

The snow is gone. It took four days to leave.

We're trying to forget the snow. Trying to ignore the fact that it will be back. Enjoying the beautiful fall weather. Getting as much outside playground time as we can before we're driven inside by not only snow but the bitter winter winds that blow across our area.

One of Ainsley's favorite spots at any playground is what she calls the "bumpy bridge". You can see her being so cautious here. She has gained courage. She now stops at the edge, takes a deep breath and runs yelling across it. Runs! The adrenaline rush from accomplishing that carries her down the biggest, twistiest slide at the top.

'Tis the season. We have a local pumpkin patch here. It's a really great little place. Tons of pumpkins and all kinds of winter squashes. The girls picked out pumpkins for themselves and for us parents.


We also got some winter squash for eating through the winter. You pay by the pound and put the money in a jar beside the scale - it's all on the honor system.


Each of the girls picked a favorite decorative squash or gourd to put on our fall table. So many varieties to pick from.


The man who runs the place took us in to show us the gourds still on the vine. Do you see the bottom of it? By his left hand. The top of it goes past the top of the picture. It was so long - stunning.


This is the pumpkin patch itself. If you don't see a pumpkin that you like or if you like the experience of picking your own, you're free to explore the patch.

Rhabarbarads.

My girls are picking the last of the flowers on the lawn. The frosts will keep any new ones away.


It started out just "Hey, you want me to make you a necklace out of those?"

Then they needed beautiful wreaths for their heads.

After getting bean flowers to add to her wreath, and having me make them wands, Hannah got very pensive.

Then joyful. "I'm going to be a fairy when I grow up. I'll have wings and I'll be much smaller. But I'll still love you. I'll live in your backyard. Except for when it's winter. Then I'll be human again and live in your house. Except for when it's spring. Then I'll be a fairy again ... (insert 45 second loop)"

This one's less fanciful and more of a pragmatist.

She was chasing the cat with her fairy wand, calling it a "bonk cat". Matt understands her better.

Maybe they're Rhubarb Fairies. Or Rhubarb Nymphs? Rhabarbarads. Yeah, that's my girls. Rhabarbarads.