Mom and Dad had an "I guess we should go..it's just something you're SUPPOSED to do" sort of attitude about it, but I warmed up to the County Fair thing REAL quick when I was introduced to my two new favorite foods: corn dogs and sno-cones. The rides were okay, but you'll see by my expressions where my heart lies at the County Fair: somewhere in the sugary, purple-y, liquidy depths of the snocone cup. I stop sharing at a time like this. Woe to the person who suggests I do otherwise. Two hours after my bedtime. On a full moon. Let's use a little common sense here, folks, and back away from the sno-cone.

When we weren't figuring out how to stay cool on this muggy hot weekend, we were...

going to the farmer's market,


playing dress up,



bringing in the harvest,


and watering the garden.

Good morning, South Sister (that's the mountain in the distance)


...and goodnight. It was pretty cold at night (we were at about 5000 feet elevation), but the days were hot and sunny.

We took the row boat out for a spin, with momma at the oars. The dogs were pretty good until a chipmunk sighting on the shore--and even then reigned it in pretty well, seemingly aware that they shouldn't rock the boat. I really like boating and asked for many more boatrides after this initial Saturday morning excursion.


There were lots of musicians camping with us, so I got to fall asleep each night to the sounds of guitars, mandolins, banjos and many beautiful voices singing some of my all time favorites.


Reading by the fireside...
Singing songs on what I affectionately referred to as "Pirate's Island."
Painting on the beach...

Perpetual wedgie...
Collecting firewood
Hot cocoa before anyone else wakes up...(well, except for mom)

Just rolled in from a long and wonderful camping weekend. More pictures coming soon...

Tree Hugging Dirt Worshipper in the Making.

Hop On Pop just wasn't gonna do it for me tonight, so I turned to a book that my mom is reading and seems to find enjoyable. Turns out it has a rooster, a D, a little W, some elephants drinking water and Mary Poppins, among other things, so I can see why she's so into it. Don't know why it's taking her so long to get through it, though.

Some days you just need a snack. Other days, you need to put your toes in your ear and eat a carob-covered frozen banana. You just never can tell what kind of day it is going to be until the moment is upon you...




"Shh, it's saying something to me, Daddy."

The Simple "Bear" Necessities of Life... Went to see a Theatre in the Park production of The Jungle Book this morning. Mowgli was a girl, which I loved, and the monkeys were super silly. We had to make storm sounds to scare away the tiger Shera Kahn, which was fun at the time, but I woke up from my nap saying, "We scared the tiger. That's not nice." These morality plays leave much to be pondered....