Aspen

 Aspen is the newest kitty at our house.

Not sure why but one of Clare's friends thought

a cat would make a great birthday present.

 

 

This particular cat has since become Marianna's baby.

They go on adventures together (all the way out to the shed)

and Aspen has even been known to hide from her affectionate mama

(imagine that?!)

Marianna recently asked why the kitty doesn't talk to her.

She only purrs.  What a bummer!

 



I'm including one very cute Franny pic
just because I couldn't resist this adorable face.

(And, yes, Johnny photo bombed EVERY photo in this post!)

Which of these eggs is not like the other?

The evidence that our new chicks are laying.

Here's Looking at the New School Schedule...

In a word....ugh!

FranMan at 2 and One Half

I tried for a photo shoot part way through the summer.

 

Then I remembered why I don't bother with trying to set

up photos...

What's with the squinty eyes?

This one really captures his personality,

so I guess that's as good as it gets.

Back to reality!

(I think those snazzy slippers came from

Auntie Tammie's house, if I'm not mistaken.)

 

Rock on, Little Man, rock on!

 

Favorite hobbie: licking whatever's been in the mixer lately

and eating inedibles.

He's tried Carmex, Chapstick and Blistex recently (much to his sister's chagrin).

 

Do you see the trend here?

We also had one bubble consuming incident which led

to repeated gagging in the backyard.

He made a quick recovery, though and has returned

to his favorite lip balm.

No worries, right?

 

He's also really into hats.

 

Classic picture... squinty eyes AND a hat!

That's our boy!

 

Up, Up and Away

Dan needed to rent some fancy machinery for a recent job,

so that evening we all got to go for a ride...

 

First some of the kids tried it out...

 

Up,

 



up,

 



and up some more.

 



Is there a panic button?

 



Interesting facial expressions!

Then I decided to try it out, too.

The view at the highest height.

Dan in his glory!

And a pretty cool view of our garden boxes, too.

(And the outdoor biffy, which is gone now,

much to Gabriel's disappointment.)

The Thrill of the Catch

Our lake has been a hotbed of fabulous fishing this summer.

Last week Grandpa Dave and Grandma Arlene

came out to show us how to clean the catch in a new way

(or an old way, depending on your point of view).

 

Then we ate the fish with French fries and our fingers.

Awesome!

 

Lazy Days of August

I love August! 

 It's when our summer slows down just

a bit and we can enjoy life for a few weeks before the

rat race that is school around here gets started.

Here's a couple of rats to say "hello".

We've had some outdoor fort building.

 



 

Water sports, including bailing out the paddle boat regularly.

 

The family bookworm, this summer.

(Can't complain about that!)

A bit of kitty cat lovin'.

Shared some Thursday's with friends.

 

Set up a towing service for younger sibs.

 

And even managed to figure out these air-filled kayaks.