::from my kitchen window::

The Sun is actually showing his face.
Our garden is overflowing with all the rain,
And if the squirrels weren't taking tomatoes,
I'd have much more than just three in my windowsill here in front of me.
Two of three children splash in the little pool.
I can hear them laughing together.

~ labor day in the woods ~

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South Mountains State Park....

High Shoals Falls Trail.......

~it's cold~

~splash~

~rattlesnake orchid foliage~

~under the rodedendrons~ 

~cardinal flower~

~moss waterfall~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~carrie~

~ fun with friends ~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 ~ celebrating the 2nd birthday of a special little girl ~

 ~ visiting with kittens ~

~ mommas laughing ~ 

 ~ faery fireman ~

 ~ noticing my noise-sensitive daughter ~

  

 ~ birthday girl ~

 ~ boys entertaining the crowd ~

 ~ chocolate cupcakes with homemade vanilla icing ~

  

  

  ~ outside for slippery fun ~

 

 ~ the girls came back inside for rest and relaxing ~

 

It looks like kitten adoption is become more likely.

I have never seen girls so smitten!

~ carrie ~

~ summer solstice celebration ~

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Last weekend, our Waldorf group gathered to celebrate the Summer Solstice!

~ as usual, the kids get all the good seats ~ 

The spread of food was amazing, 

with everyone bringing delicious dishes,

from their gardens and farmers' markets.

Afterwards, everyone went outside to play in our host's amazing backyard!

I snapped this quick picture of my partner carrying her twin boys.

Brings back memories of when our twins were that small.  

~ hmmmm, i don't think he misses this too much ~ 

Our host also made 5 - 5!! - different flavors of homemade ice cream and sorbet.

I sampled the mint chocolate chip - divine!

Here's a sweet picture of her twin boys and my twin girls.

~ i love those little boys eyeing the other's cone! ~ 

Laurel and Daddy have a cuddle after ice cream. 

She was recovering from an encounter with my rotary cutter (!!!!)

which landed us in the ER for 4 stitches in the end of her finger.  

 ~ impossibly cute makenna ~

~ bursting with precious personality these days ~

~ dear friend t and lela holding clancey the kitten ~ 

For the third year, our family made the Sun pinata for the party.

This year is was tougher than ever,

perhaps from the fact that it was slightly damp,

and covered in mirrors, jingle bells and curly-cue paper

(which drooped in the thick NC air).

 ~ youngest to oldest ~

 ~ r giving it a good hard *twack* ~

 ~ liv and lela ~

 ~ t takes her turn, only days out of a cast for her broken elbow ~

 

 ~ parker ~

 ~ lela ~

 ~ 6 year old l means business ~

 ~ lefty jacob ~

 ~ s taking his turn ~

 ~ blake's daddy was manning the pinata, and didn't make it easy for him! ~

 ~ blake ~

 ~ swing and a miss as his daddy pulls the pinata up higher ~

 ~ n sends the pinata spinning ~

Having gone through all the children,

and the pinata was still intact,

we decided to let all the mommas have a swing.

 ~ tanya ~

 ~ our host ~

 ~ c sends it spinning! ~

Time to move on to the daddies!

Our daddy, former park ranger police officer, had the right technique,

and soon the pinata burst open!

~ lefty daddy subdues the pinata ~

The children all rushed in like a flood,

as chocolates, gems, lollipops, sparklers and taffy rained down!

As a testament to the overwhelming amount of goodies in the pinata,

and the practical nature of our children,

there were several large handfuls left on the blanket.

~ l camp prepared with a basket for her stash ~ 

Afterwards, all the adults were glowing with the laughter.

I'm so glad that we had a turn at the pinata,

it was a lot of fun and it was good for the children to see us enjoying it.

I also suspect that the boys especially were impressed 

by all the strong daddies.  

A short walk through the woods took us to a little pond.

Once again, our hosts supplied rods, reels and bait,

and the children all had turns fishing.

 ~ lela - she is her mother's daughter ~

Their were many species of frogs calling from the alders around the pond,

and fireflies began to rise up out of the grass.

In the darkness, we tromped up the hillside trail again,

where a small fire greeted us.

It was good to gather again.

~ carrie ~