I may not be able to sing camp songs yet,

but I have a new hat.

Since it's 106 degrees here today, I'll save it for a cooler day. Like my Aunt Jenny and Uncle Tom's wedding! Thanks, Gramma and Koo Koo!

One is a crazy camp song, one is a crazy homemade song. I leave it to you to decide which is more non-sensical. What I lack in tune, I make up for in dramatics...

W: This picture, while a fabulous insight into my determination, simply does not do justice to my progress. I'm actually getting pretty good.

W: I love my sister... so much, I sometimes forget where it is exactly that I'm supposed to hug. She's just so delicious all over...

J: Seriously. Mom. Aren't you supposed to DO something about this??? Right, BESIDES takes pictures, I mean??

"How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives."

-Annie Dillard

Tonight, we...
..and...


with a little bit of...

and a little bit of...

and, of course, what would a summer night be without...

Then we did some...

"It is only possible to live happily ever after on a day to day basis."

-Margaret Bonnano

And for those of you asking, "How is Winona liking her role as older sister?" Here's a little insight in a very brief series of videos we call "Look at me, Jezzy", "She Licked Me" and "I Eat Her Hand" --entitled as such for, er, obvious reasons.

W: I went to visit my friends Ione and Linden yesterday. This is a pretty special treat for me--one that I talked about for months leading up to the adventure and will continue to talk about for months to come. Mostly, I focus on, "Can we go to Ione's house now, Mom?"


J: We all walked to a neighborhood park for a fun festival with music and cirus tricks and food and dancing. So I hear. I slept. But here you see Winona, (Linden's behind her), Ione on bike, Kiva, Chris, Chris's mom and Ben (Gamma Birdie is behind Chris). We were a fun parade on a beautiful summer day!
J: Winona SAYS she knows how to hula hoop. I see a lot of twistin' and shakin' and one big hoop lying on the ground, but don't tell her that.

J: In other news, however, Winona DOES know how to ride a bike! Who knew? She ran out on the COVETED flat sidewalks outside of Ione's house, jumped on Linden's bike and answered Chris' question of "Do you know how to ride?" with an enthusiastic, "YUP!" as he secured her helmet. Mom and I came out a few minutes later and silly mom said, "Winona doesn't know how to ride a bike." I know I'm new to things, but it sure looked like she was riding to me! Mom was so floored, she didn't remember to take a picture.

Ione's contemplating her Hula Strategy.

W and I: The teeter-totter balance boards were super fun. We might run away with the circus. We're good.

Gamma Birdie, you're the one who should be in the tree!

No, we will not look at the camera. We are busy.

And who can blame them? They were eating this: one of Kiva's TWO Peach Gallettes. What's a gallette, you ask? Well see here one of Kiva's TWO (did we mention she made two?) dessert gallettes made with fresh, locally grown peaches. Melissa, we dedicate this to you, as whipping out a peach gallette--er, make that TWO peach gallettes-- on a day of getting four kids under the age of 4 to and fro a park festival seemed like something you could and would do!

W : My mom opted for sitting on the couch. We didn't mind. So long as SOMEONE was baking dessert.
And, as every good houseguest should, I was sure to mow their lawn in a tutu before I left.

J: I'm smiling! Not just because I have gas, either. I smile when people smile at me or make funny noises. The smiles get so big, they tumble over into mini-giggles. This melts my mama... and it ain't the heat.

Here, I'm smiling because I am sporting the superfly kimono made by Gamma Melissa. I mean really... I know you're smiling now, too. She also made a gorgeous blouse for my sister, in a mermaid/squid fabric that can only be described as "etsy-licious," and it's funny that we don't have pictures, yet, as my sister refused to remove the shirt for a solid 24 hours. She slept in the thing. Pictures will soon follow. In the meantime, enjoy me. In kimono. Smiling.

Aunt Jenny came to visit us! She helped teach me how to ride my bike (a skill I'm still working on, although due to the hilly neighborhood, I have not been very diligent in my practice).

She's a great play buddy at the park!

And she's a BLAST in the pool at our house, too, but none of those shots were, er, appropriate for internet posting (I tend to like water time in the buff).

We'll miss her cuddles...until next time!

J: I'm a really good baby. I sleep a lot and quietly take in the world when I'm awake...Well, not so very quietly, actually. I make a ton of noises, but they're of the happy sort, most of the time.

J: She's sweet and cuddly, but, I gotta tell ya, a little crazy.

W: She doesn't do much, but we make up for that by smothering her in kisses.

W: Yesterday, I went to the Fair with Daddy. As there are few words to describe the Fair, I'll just say that I started the day off by waking up early and running into mommy and daddy's room to wake them, buck naked with costume in hand. I spent the next hour saying, "Daddy, are you ready, yet? Daddy, why aren't you dressed up like me, yet?" Finally, it was time to get on the bus...

A glimpse...

J: Today was my first time on the Butte! Daddy did the long loop with the dogs and met Mama, Winnie and me on his way back down. We probably could have made it further, but as it was, he found us resting under the beauteous Doug Firs...

It's Country Fair Eve, which means I'm frantically trying to figure out if I'm going to dress up as a Pirate Ballerina Superhero...

...an Angel Princess, or a Ballerina Bunny.

IT'S SO MUCH FUN TO CHOOSE, I CAN'T EVEN STAND IT!!!!

I took some shots of mama who got into the spirit with me tonight.

HAPPY FAIR!

Clownin' around, celebrating my friend Ruby's 3rd Birthday this past weekend.

..and then some park time with Mom and Jezzy...

W: I don't know if I've FULLY expressed my love for berries... so allow these pictures to speak many thousands of words. Thank you, dear Daddy, for taking my berry passion seriously and planting raspberry bushes, blueberry bushes, strawberry plants and blackberries...

SO many berries, even Jez is wide-eyed.
This is what I'm talking about. Perfection. Small, juicy-blue perfection.

Dessert.