Acorn Picking

Danielle and Jenny came over to visit. Danielle noticed we have a good crop of acorns, so we decided to collect some.

After a while, we had over half a bucket full.

She also played with balls and the small wagon.

Christopher Penna, Jedi Knight

Christopher constructs a miniature Boba Fett.

He then proceeds to demonstrate the use and skills of the light saber.

Mountain Scenery

Here's a photo of a mountain not far from our house.

(Scroll down for the big surprise.)

































Ha! It's the pile of sand by our driveway. I thought it was interesting how the rain the other day shaped it so that it resembles (to my eye, anyway) a scale mountain. Fractals, anyone?

Peppers

We got a nice crop of banana peppers from our little garden.

Grandcamp West

After we got back from Grandcamp East, we took over from Jeff's parents to cover Grandcamp West.
Naomi's school had a fundraising fair. Naomi decided to go for the facepaint.

Isn't she beautiful?

The fire department brought one of their engines. Both Naomi and Danielle climbed over it.

Naomi still sometimes stops to ride the rocking horse on her way out of the after school center, where she attended preschool.

Danielle enjoys having a quiet time of reading... occasionally.

Naomi dances to the Veggie Tales theme song.

We carved an "Early October Jack'O'Lantern".

Naomi bravely extracts the gooshy stuff.

Water table play.

Drinking from the proverbial fire hose.

Enjoying one of many mini meals.

Completing a challenging 25 piece puzzle. (Sorry about the outfit, Jenny - our bad!)

Naomi presents a puppet show.

Danielle follows suit.

Faint echos of the 60's -- our own flower child!

Grandcamp East

We had the privilege of helping with John and Christopher during the startup of school season. They are becoming great Brothers.

Constant motion! Christopher enjoys moving "rocks" from one container to another, while John demonstrates Brownian Motion.

John and Mimi made some cookies.

One night, John decided he wanted to sleep in the hallway instead of his bed.

John and Christopher enjoyed sliding down from the fort.

John rides the bus home from school.

Yard

It was hot this summer. And dry.
The John/Naomi tree kind of took a beating, but we think it just went into hibernation in self defense.

We're not so sure about the Leland Cypress's. They have been cut off to see if there is any life left in the root stock.

The rosemary seemed oblivious.

The Liriope burned on the tips of the leaves.

And the Texas Sage suffered, but recovered nicely after a little shower we had.

 

Mimi decided to rearrange the brick patio, due to uneven surfaces/trip hazards.

A lot of bricks were relocated.

And a lot of plants were "pruned"... (there used to be 5 Leland Cypress' there...)

Trip East

Our first stop was Siloam Springs, AR. We took Reuben's Jeep to his daughter Sophia, who is attending John Brown University.

We spent the night in Conway, AR. Sadly, we just didn't have time in our schedule to drive by Hendrix College where Julie went to school.

We met up with Candice and Gene in Memphis. They had driven up there to escape the rain from tropical storm Lee. We had barbecue for lunch.

Nasville has a Trader Joe's! This time, we each had one shopping bag to fill. This greatly reduced the financial impact of our visit.

By the time we got to Pigeon Forge, there was plenty of rain for us to enjoy - something we haven't seen in quite a while.
We found a wonderful Italian boutique diner for lunch. It's called "Papa John's Pizza."

 (Not quite the same as Portugal, but the best we could come up with in Pigeon Forge.)
There were even puddles to splash in...

License Tag Owner Lookup App - A Tool For Road-Rage!

This app:
http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/carindex/id326838207?mt=8#

might be ok in Switzerland, where most of the humans still appear to be sane.

Can you imagine how it would play out here in the USA!?!?

"Slow driver ahead? Call 'em up, curse at 'em, then shoot out their tail lights!"

Hornucopia 2011 - July 4th Fireworks

After the swim party, Jeff's Mom & Dad graciously invited us all to go with them to watch the McKinney fireworks show. We drove to a park not far from the fireworks launching site, and spread out the blankets and lawn chairs.
Jenny handed out really cool light sticks, and Mimi brought light bracelets for everyone.

The anticipation was almost palpable.

Viewers were rapt.

The display was awe-inspiring.

Here's kind of what it looked like...

Happy Birthday, America!

Here's hoping you get a better Congress, soon.

Hornucopia 2011 - Independence Day Swimming Party

Thanks to Julie(Jeff's sister) and Rob, we were all invited to join Jeff's family at their Annual Independence Day Pool Party on a very hot July afternoon.

There was a tremendous amount of "Jump to Uncle Jeff" throughout the swim period.

Even Danielle got in the act.

Christopher was quite taken with the 'water mound' fountain in the shallow end of the pool.

After the swim, there was a birthday cake to celebrate the upcoming 5-year-old birthdays.

Danielle loves Aunt Julie!

The honorees blew out the candles.

Christopher took it all in - as usual.

And he enjoyed the cake, too.

Thank you Uncle Rob and Aunt Julie for inviting us to your party!

Hornucopia 2011 - The Great Annual Family Photo