Rainbow

Woke up this morning to a rainbow in our backyard! Dave and I normally sit on the couch in the living room and drink our coffee. But today, since Dave is at the farm and I'm home, I sat in the kitchen with the back door open so kitty could enjoy the fresh air. She likes to sneak out on the porch, so I was sitting in the kitchen to keep an eye on her...and it's a good thing I did, because I spotted this beauty! Had I been sitting in the living room I may have missed it!

This is the view I first saw from the kitchen with the rainbow in our

 backyard, then I walked outside to the front to capture the colorful arch 

with our house in the foreground. 

 

Happy Halloween 2019

A school friend (a boy!) invited the whole 6th grade class to a Halloween party at his house. We carpooled and before the party the girls had a Spooky Halloween treat.

The girls dressed up as Hydroflasks (the super popular water bottles)

Turtle Power! The 6th grade team dressed up as

The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles!

 Striking our best ninja turtle poses!

Kiera and G came up with their own original Halloween costume 

idea...Scary Dolls! They found dresses at the thrift store and soiled them 

in the back yard with dirt and fake blood.

They also perfected their "fake wounds" thanks to YouTube videos.

The Scary Dolls!

A smile makes her look a little less scary!

All the candy! 

End of Summer Miscellaneous

The neighborhood ladies went to Moosehead to celebrate Kate's 50th! 

 On the Thyme x Table patio celebrating my birthday!

Look at Kiera's sun kissed, freckled nose...sweet summertime!

Butterfly Weed with a butterfly

Close up!

Friday night birthday Celebration with Grandpa 

and a Berona's cassata cake, of course! 

We celebrated Papa's bday at Thyme x Table too,

Cheers!

 A new favorite drink at Mojo's...an iced London Fog

(iced Earl Grey tea, cream and vanilla)

 A clear day for a trip to the Boat Club for 

a swim in the lake with V!

 Kiera's signature driveway pose

featuring Maxi

 Kiera and her friends went to a few summer volleyball

camp. We carpooled and when it was our turn, we usually

stopped for a treat!

Canterbury Stroll, Ice Cream Truck Edition

Our neighborhood has weekly-ish Sunday, and sometimes Saturday, Strolls. They are like laid back mini block parties. This Sunday the Stroll was at our house and we had the Prayers from Maria Ice Cream Wagon! 

Book Club

The ladies in our neighborhood started a book club. It's a fun night...talking, laughing, discussing the book, and eating. We take turns hosting and picking the book. For my pick, I chose a book we read at school with the sixth graders, A Long Walk to Water. 

 Love this little metal "neighborhood" from Target

 Before the rest of the goodies arrive....

 Drinks

 The book cover never looked so fancy!

 The good old book club wreath and banner made a reappearance!

They got dusted off, hung up and dressed up the mantle for another 

book club night.

Now why didn't I take a picture of the girls? 

Probably because we were too busy laughing, talking and eating!

Happy Halloween from the "Bloody Bridal Party!"

Kiera and two of her neighborhood girlfriends came up with the idea to be a "bloody bridal party" for Halloween. While it made me miss her younger years and "sweet" costumes, it was fun to see the girls do this on their own...not to mention the fun they had dirtying and bloodying their costumes!

Winnie the Pooh and Crew with the B.B.P.

 More neighborhood friends

 Every year Dave walks with Kiera around the neighborhood

and I stay home to pass out the candy. This year kitty "helped."

Sorting her loot is her second favorite Halloween activity...

The first? Eating all the candy!  

 This took about twenty shots to get the candy to fall gradually,

not in one big lump...we laughed so hard! 

Block Party 2018

 This year our annual block party was bigger than ever...we invited the three blocks south of Wolf Road! We had it in October this year and dubbed it the "Block-Tober Fest." The weather was unseasonably warm and it was supposed to rain. It didn't rain all day during the party, but there was a five minute down pour just as we were starting to clean things up. One of the neighbor's friends had a big smoker and he cooked all kinds of delicious meat. We also had a corn hole tournament, a sidewalk chalk coloring contest, games and we projected the Indians play off game outside. We love our neighbors and our neighborhood!

Dave entered the sidewalk chalk competition

No party is complete without a chalk board sign!

 Lester cracked us all up when he busted out 

the microphone!

 Kiera and co. hanging out

Ron and his behemoth smoker!

 Let the games begin!