Shenandoah River State Park

First of all, the book!

You must read this book--it has been perfect summertime reading.

Learning about (so far) chickens, cassowaries and hummingbirds has been wonderful.

in her book on octopuses, i wondered if God had perhaps favored the octopus in all His creation 

because of the amazing nature of an octopus...

but perhaps 

the hummingbird is actually God's favorite.

its so amazing!  it brought me to tears to read about hummingbirds!

they are incredible dynamos!

May God be praised!

You will enjoy this book :-)

the twins and peter have grown up!  

we were back in ikea again,

where we used to go when the boys were Sebastian's age.

Sebastian had a lovely time! i wish i had gotten pictures of Christine, betty, teresa and her others :)

skyline jumping followed

and Christine made this lovely wreath for a neighbor.

on Friday...at falcons...

Anne brought the snack and laid out the cheese, apples and grapes.  

and, as you can see in the next picture

red white and blue bread

and Irish butter to go with it!

a beautiful and very thoughtful feast Anne!

Nano trying Anne's cold brew coffee.

( it was splendid! )

i think nano liked it too!

wish i had gotten a picture of betty and nonie as well.

the next day,

Shenandoah river state park with peter and john Paul

the boys setting up their tent

the evening  sky from inside the camper

milkweed in stages of bloom

is this queen Anne's lace?

against the early morning sky

and..

in sun...some of these plants were 8 feet tall

ready to hit the river

spotted on our walk

also spotted on our walk:

the boys walking back after floating down river

for the next trip,

we dropped them off outside of Shenandoah River State Park

they had a good time...

we went to Mass and picked up dinner at ate it at Shenandoah National Park at an overlook.

it was a tranquil and clear day.  What a blessing

no thunderstorms

Sunday morning on an early morning walk

the beauty of this tree under-lit by reflection from the river was breathtaking!

the boys made one more (2 hour) trip down the river,

and ken and i enjoyed a bit of river time too!

on the way home:

So very thankful! Blessed be God!

Well, kudos to Ken who agreed to an impromptu camping trip for Saturday to Chincoteague, and then an even quicker departure on Friday for a night camping at Belle Isle "on the way".  (it really wasn't "on the way")

Belle Isle State Park is the the quietest of all parks except for this unearthly sound that suddenly and loudly broke through the inky blackness.




Hello neighbors!

Barred owl

after a lovely hootenanny, the inky silence resumed adorned with countless sparkling fireflies.

about 4:30 in the morning, the silence was broken again, and that's not the only thing that broke.

as Ken and i were returning from a bathroom run, a tree came crashing down in the nearby woods.  My first thought was, "Is there a giant coming?".  and my second thought was, "i need to go to the bathroom again!"  haha

Soon the owls had another hoot--what fun!

Saturday afternoon we rolled into Chincoteague:

and met up with the Greniers:

Kateri was excited:

The Greniers are amazing campers:

After Mass we went on a quick walk and enjoyed the sunset:

and in the evening twilight we saw a large owl fly over our heads

silhouetted by the last bit of light in the day.

the next morning, orange juice in the orange pajamas:

a quick walk before breakfast:

we didn't see:

but way too many of these:

this little guy, i wish you could see it,

had his toes curled over the edge of the rail

as he was looking for a morning catch:

Teresa made wonderful breakfast burritos heated over a campfire.

sebastian visited in the aliner:

and after a 4 hour drive home....

the jasmine was beginning to bloom:

thanks be to God for all His blessings!

in review

This is an interesting book for the most part--

full of several stories about octopuses with interesting personalities.

(one point made is that since octopus is a greek word,

and "i" is a plural ending for a latin word,

the plural of octopus is octopuses)

What a glorious creature the octopus is!  Immensely strong, venomous,  colorblind, yet able to camouflage itself (possibly because it's skin can see color?), inquisitive, playful, intelligent, houdini for escape, and on and on!

May God be praised! 

How did He ever dream up such a marvel?

Spotted at Nonie's store

...how appropriate this is for our house!

curtains on the gazebo

curtains and hardware from ikea...the curtains needed to be shortened 

and 6 panels were sewn together...

the yards and yards lengthwise and widthwise were a armful to wrestle with.

Ken saying hello!

I am excited for the littles to see it--

i think they will think it is a lot of fun!  its quite cozy when the curtains are closed

(i have to admit that it was a lovely spot for a short nap this afternoon,

while reading about octopuses)

the view yesterday from a scenic overlook at shenandoah national park

Hope you had a blessed weekend!

a few hi...lights!

Kateri presents

a new sweater :)

just off the needles!

it's a size 4/5, she will be able to wear it about 15 minutes (total) this summer...

sure hope it fits this fall, 

but, as Mormie pointed out,

Kia can wear it too one of these days!

Next project same sweater for Charlotte size 6

Thanks be to God!

fun times at a dog show over the weekend

A copy of this book was recently discovered in the basement...unopened for ? years, naturally i dropped the book off at teresa's, and she read it promptly, and really enjoyed it.

It's written by a funny Catholic mom, who is definitely an "outside the box" thinker.

one idea Lolita Jardeleza recommends is a prayer intention board on the fridge.

(she described her busy husband as sometimes praying, "Lord, board!" when he didn't have time to pray for each person)

These peel and stick dry erase boards are at staples, and they are part of the Martha Stewart office line.

it's worked out well!

this is a very interesting book!  I recommend it!

john, jeanne and garrett are camping in hatteras;

 they drove down yesterday, and are coming back tomorrow

the hill-littles enjoying a picnic in hawaii

Snow in Colorado just before Mimi left the state, but it was a great trip.

jet lag :)

I saw this recently on a wall in someone's house who is battling stage 4 cancer....

she had notes and encouragement throughout her house.  It was very inspiring!

and isn't it thrilling to think that Mary and Grant and their littles will soon be heading our way?!

I can't wait to see them!

May the angels go with them every inch!