Pictures

It's been a while since I posted pictures. Summer is always, always different. A little more spontaneous, a little more exhausting, and a lot louder every year. 

James asked if we could go camping. James, Matthew, and I held a backyard campout with a tent one night, then a tent, fire, and s'mores soon after (Robert joined us that time). Bobby and Alex could not be persuaded to sleep outside *sigh*

I was originally planning to save the camping experience for my birthday week in August when we could ALSO view the Perseids Meteor Shower, but then I came to my senses...why camp in August in the thick of summer heat and humidity getting eaten alive by mosquitos somewhere far away from home?! It made a lot more sense to me to camp in our own backyard in June when the fireflies are still around and the mosquitos haven't quite taken over, and the overnight lows are still a comfortable 60-70F. Ahhhhh. So much better! I also used our air mattresses and cushions :) We may still camp around my birthday, but only if I really, really need/want to.

Here, James is proudly holding a smoldering stick. The kids are old enough now that we can explore fire a little more than previous years. James would light his stick, blow it out, knock off the ashy cinders, then draw on the concrete with the charcoal. Once, someone was startled by a teeny tiny cinder on the ground and decided to go put shoes on. Clever boys! Another moment that evening, James was a little lax with his cinders (again) and burned a tiny hole in his shorts. He decided at that point that this fire thing had taught him enough for the day. He tossed his stick into the fire and stopped messing with it. These are the experiences I want my children to have: exposure to low risk dangers under close supervision that engender critical thinking and a healthy dose of cautious responsibility. Will James want to be involved in the next fire? You bet. Will he know a little more about how to do it safely? Yes. 

Bobby, James, and Matthew joined me on a hike at Homer Lake on Juneteenth. Bobby had the day off, the weather was perfect, and I needed just one more hour of hiking to earn a badge on my silly exercise app. We saw a wild tortoise! And lots of birds. And a little bit of a deer.

Here is Alex on his second day of work as a Nature Day Camp Junior Counselor at the Anita Purves Nature Center. He has since worked with the 6-7 year old class and the pre-K class. He seriously LOVES this work and plans to be a Junior Counselor as many summers as he can. He's riding his bike to and from work now (3 miles each way) and that's really increased his sense of confidence and independence. The other day, he said, "I'm gonna bike to Meijer to get some raisins for my rats." And he did!! All by himself. It's only a mile away, but holy moly he's such a different guy than he was a few years ago.

Our neighbor's raspberries were great this year. They said we could have any on the side that faces our fence (they can't reach those). Matthew's being all smarmy for the picture. The strawberries, blueberries, and raspberries were ALL extra sweet and delicious this year. We ate them all fresh right off the bush and shared none with neighbors and friends. No regrets.

On our second campout night, the boys built a funeral pyre for an adolescent rabbit that somehow got into our garden and died. I didn't discover it until maggots were already writhing under its skin. I left it for a couple days longer and THEN told the boys about it. The maggots had left only a skeleton and a very thin furry overcoat. We examined the bones and couldn't find any trauma. It might have died of fright (thunderstorm) or sickness. We don't have a mammalian graveyard on our property (only avian and fishy ones), so James thought we could send this noble rabbit off like a Viking. The pyre didn't exactly work like they thought it would, but it got the job done. May you rest in peace, rabbit.

Matthew is a big fan of totally burned marshmallows. He does it on purpose. I remember liking that as a kid, but why? Why?!