Kablooie! There went July.

Again, completing posts that were started in August and never completed.  Today is the 23rd of December.

So this is July.  Lots of sun, farm, and pool time.

Looots of sun.

Woah.

Annaliese's fashion sense continues to progress.

Family trip to Oxford for dinner.  The kids have had periodic camera-shy episodes. 

These two waved at every passing car, and if I recall correctly, got a police car to flash his lights and siren for them.

We had a visit from u.William and a.Natalie!

The kids showed off all the different parts of their world.

And then there was endless wrestling at home.

a.Natalie taught them a series of thoroughly inappropriate games, and a card throwing game.  

Extended family walk!

We took the visiting dairy man from Vermont to see our local dairy man in Mississippi at milking time.  Fun to watch these two men from different worlds but with so much in common share a cold beverage on a Saturday evening.

Then home again for more wrestling.  And possibly force-feeding something from a flask.

Caspian maaay have a favorite.

Then again...

Our family sure makes beautiful faces.

Then my family left for a week to Virginia.

And I went home for a marathon work week.  And the first thing that happened out my window, a Happy music video shoot.

I made some time for relaxation while they were away too. That's a grapefruit Izze, a block of extra firm tofu covered in old bay seasoning, a block of cheese, and some sara lee coffee cakes.  Yum.

Dinners were a little more traditional.

A friend moved to Pennsylvania, and we purchased his flock of chickens.  The survivors are now laying daily, which means over a dozen eggs each day.  And we've had a number of delicious chicken dinners, including a succulent Thanksgiving chicken after Alexe sold our turkey.  (Remember I'm writing this in December.)

Eat cow is growing nicely.  He's been getting aggressive though.  Once we know for sure that Sarah is pregnant, and he has eaten his fill of the spring grasses, he'll be headed to the freezer.

We continue to have periodic concerts in my office.

My family came home!  Annaliese seemed to have had her fill of her brother on the trip, and Caspian was starving for boy-time. (Read the top line of the chalk board.)

He's so handsome!!!

The poor put upon big sister.

Fort.

One of our favorite evening games as a family: run around the yard as airplanes.

If our goal was to make sure our kids played to exhaustion this summer, I think we did well.

My neighbors across the street from my worksite, the son and daughter of the new owners at the hardware store.  Their father also has a peach orchard.  Good people.