In which we commune with nature. Twice!

I have a mental list of about a thousand things I've been putting off for the last few weeks, but instead of doing those things I am composing a blog post. Check out these two lovely ladies:

Jenny
and

Claire

When Jenny came to visit a few weeks ago, we decided to check out Hanging Rock State Park. We hiked, we splashed in waterfalls, we swam, we frolicked. A great time was had by all.

So, the next week when Claire was here, we decided to go there again. This time we wanted to see the actual hanging rock, and that entailed a more strenuous hike. We didn't really know what we were getting ourselves into.

Isobel says "Nature is so stupid."

Jude says "Nature ROCKS!"

The views from the rock were totally worth all of Isobel's bellyaching.

Colorado and Two Good Things

I know, I know, long time no blog. This has been one wonderfully busy Summer. We visited my family in Colorado, then we moved to a new house, and for the last week we've had my sister Jenny visiting us. And the good times keep on rollin': next week we have our friend Claire coming to visit, and the week after that is the Shiffler family's Outer Banks vacation. THEN, the week after that, Isobel will be starting preschool at B'nai Shalom Day School. So much good stuff is going on up in here! How did we get so lucky?
Anyway, here are a few photos from our Colorado trip last month. Isobel had her first hair cut while we were there, and I like this "before" photo better than any of the "after"s. Her hair does look healthier after having about 3 inches chopped off, but the change isn't particularly dramatic.

We love swimming!



Jude is 5 months old! Actually, he's 5 and a half months now, but that picture is from his 5-month birthday. My, my, he's one handsome little man.
Every time we go to Colorado we go to the zoo and I take tons of photos of the children playing and climbing on things and sitting on statues. So here you go: Kimball, Simon, Eleanor, and Isobel on a giant spiderweb.

Stay tuned for photos from the week-long PARTY we had with Jenny! Till then, here are a couple of good things I've been wanting to share:
There's good:
Jenny and I made two recipes from this cookbook this week- the Shrimp and Grits, and the Crème Brulée French Toast, and they were both AMAZING.
And then there's even better: