Evening Beauty

I enjoy sitting outside with Eric in the evening.

We never used our backyard before I put a patio table and chairs out there.

Now the kids will sometimes play on the swings until after dark.

It is so enjoyable.

Eastern Spiny Soft Shelled Turtle

You always know when Hattie has found something worth catching.

She rushes in and says, "Where is the yellow colander?"

Our neighbor brought over his reptile book and identified it for her. 

She was sad to let Spiny go, but I'm sure she will find something else to catch soon.

When she is done "fishing" she always tells me she rinsed out the colander for me.

 I'm sure everyone is dying to come eat pasta at my house. 

 I promise the taste of ditch turtle won't be too strong.

Ship Island

I went to Ship Island with Emogene's Beta Club group. 

We had so much fun.  I didn't even do much, but it was awesome.

We collected shells, played gigantic frisbee, toured a fort, and walked down the beach.

And we saw dolphins!  It was our first time seeing them in the wild.   Such a great day!

Dolphin!

Dolphin!

The first selfie we took was of her forehead and my nose.

Do you know how hard it is to take a selfie using a huge digital camera?

She was so happy all day.  She hadn't been to a beach since she was 4 and barely remembered it.

Me, enjoying some quiet time while Em played in the water.

Emogene made four sandcastles, one for each of my joys.

This was funny to me.  Other kids brought sandwiches and cold pizza.

Emogene and I brought pulled pork tacos that we assembled on the beach.  

We did have a great cheat meal with chips and carbonation added to it.

Food rules are ignored on field trips.

Look at her joy!

The next pictures are of Fort Massachusetts.  It was very pretty.

Dolphin!

Dolphin!

Sweet, Sweet Music

I bought a violin at a yard sale recently.  Eric had been asking me to find him one every time I went to a garage sale.  I finally came through for him.  

Eric, Hattie, and Lydda have been dabbling in violin playing.  So basically, my house sounds like the symphony is warming up.  All.  Day.  Long.