I hope you're comfortable- here are few pics from the summer.

Here we are on a peninsula day-trip with my friend Sara (below)

we caught a bunch of baby crabs along the shore at an undisclosed location (I don't remember the name of it). and it's weird, because there are some little crabs that look just like them on our back deck-but they aren't as animated as they used to be. hm.

Here we are on the ferry -it was such a fun ride! (Susie is a little shy of photos, so she hid behind Eva)

 Levi had that dream where he shows up without pants, wearing church shoes and a rumpled jacket.
you know the one...

the girls had that dream where mom let them make sticky sugar-yarn easter baskets. wait. that really happened, and it was a mess.

 if you ever get sick of pin the tail on the donkey, eva is taking orders for the giraffe variety.

I call this photo "lone boy in a sea of girl toys" or
"tough hummer at his top secret pink getaway"

Levi swears no one was playing with the castle, but I think the little people might've considered it a hostile takeover.

just another day on the farm, working the land, etc.

Eva's sleeping habits amuse.

all the cool kids are sharing their beds with tables these days, right?

to heck with comfort and common sense! I need to stop being such an old lady and let her fit in.

why can't I play in the front yard???
well because, son, someone might pick up that cute face and take it home!

 don't laugh, these pins are part of a pin community, and my girls can tell you (in not a few words) all about the infrastructure that was stable enough to last all of an afternoon on our dining table.

I love the things they play. One of these days I am going to do a post devoted entirely to the hilarious objects-turned-playthings that occupy and inspire their imagination.

doesn't he look tough? and kinda mean, even. I'm intimidated.

 getting cozy with dad, and his grimy gym towel. nothing is too posh for our little angel.

I love this picture because it is exactly how her room looked when I came in. Something about the light hitting her bed, and her being asleep, it was like I walked into a nursery in heaven.

 the thing about these kids-on-the-toilet pictures is, the subjects are very excited to have them taken at the time. it's later that they feel the shame. I have twenty of the most hilarious pictures of him potty training, but this one was the most.... shall we say, modest?

I looked out the back window and saw them lying in a bed of boughs Ryan cut down from our spruce, reading a book, cozy cozers.

"mom! dad's been painting race cars on the retaining blocks again..!" ummbuuhh... he is gonna get it!

Eva actually took apart the chain guard, fixed molly's chain and put it back together.
Furthermore, she put away her tools!

just look at her, would you??

"are you smiling?"
"no. I not."

 the thing I notice is that Levi isn't really into it.

 should we swim or should we build a snowman? Let's just talk about it.

That tree was going to kill us in the next windstorm, but our awesome neighbors had it removed a few weeks ago. It was quite the show, and we all sat outside most of the day watching it come down. When all the limbs were off, Levi looked up at the enormous trunk and said "that's a BIG stick!"

my sis Amber was in town from the east coast and went camping with us. Super fun.

 when I realized that susie wasn't really safe in the bouncy seat anymore.

She loves him!

 Though a warm debate ensued, the final consensus held that there was actually no blood.
NO BLOOD, NO BARBIE BANDAID, Molly.

 if only Molly believed in safety first, like Levi here, she probably could have avoided her near-fatal wound to the foot.

Eva on the first day of school

Molly on the first day of school.

 

Levi on the first day of school 

"BE GONE!"

just kidding, i love my sisters.

and finally, susie on the first day of school

this is what we lovingly refer to as "willie wonka hair."

 

levi was awesome enough to stop crying while I took a quick picture of him in the bathroom wastebasket. What a champ.

She's sitting up! for a sec.

Levi's standing on the stool (punishment around here) for cleaning daddy's clock.
(note the legs on the floor)

The raft is tethered to a stake by a five foot rope. Eva's friend has a stick in each hand, and Eva says, in all seriousness, 

"you be in charge of oaring and I'll be in charge of where we're going." 

 (CHART A COURSE FOR THE NEW WORLD, EVA!!)

it was the funniest quote of the summer, and no one heard it but me.