Scenes from a camping trip....

We spent last weekend camping at Stony Brook State Park. The weather was warm and sunny and perfect for being outdoors. We played a lot on the fabulous playground, but also had fun at our campsite. Emily and Chloe enjoyed roasting marshmallows over the campfire. The actual roasting portion of this activity lasted about 13 seconds, but the marshmallow eating was very much enjoyed.

Both girls had little bug houses that came with tweezers so they could catch bugs and observe them. Even Emily who usually abhors bugs was scouring the campsite for catchable bugs! Chloe and Emily both found lots of caterpillars and Emily even found a millipede! Each of them eagerly wielded their tweezers and captured their own bugs. We let all the bugs who survived the tweezers go home to their families, of course.

We camped with our good friends the Grillos. Pete is an electrician and the last time I saw him I told him if he ever came across a big spool left over from the electical wire they use, to save it for me. When I was a kid, we had one in the backyard that we used as a table when serving up mudpies and for all sorts of other things. When we got to the campsite, Pete told Chloe and Emily he had a surprise for them. Imagine our surprise and delight when he unveiled a spool that he had painted and decorated with their names and princess decals! It is such a special little table and the girls absolutely adore it.

Pete came camping with his son, Michael, their exchange student from Norway, Rey, and 2 friends from school, Chris and Azachiah. All the guys are around 17 years old and instead of going their own way and doing their own thing, they spent lots of time at the campsite really having fun and enjoying the company of a couple 3 1/2 year old girls who wanted nothing more than to play with the big boys. I'm proud to know all of them and happy we got a nice group picture.

It was a great camping trip and we look forward to at least one more camping weekend this year!

Picking dandelions

Every day I am the lucky recipient of 2 large fistfuls of dandelions, sometimes clovers. Luckily Chloe and Emily know not to pick flowers that I've actually planted without permission. They are always on the lookout for patches of clover and dandelions and will pick until they are gone. Our neighbors enjoy the free weeding of their lawn. Joel happened to have his camera handy and caught this adorable photo of Chloe and Emily in our front yard.

Welcome Shirley...

We adopted a 9 week old tortoiseshell kitten from the Humane Society last night. She is an adorable little kitten. We had been toying with the idea of getting a second cat, but we wanted 1) a female, 2) a very young kitten, 3) a social, loving cat that would not run under the bed any time she heard four excited little footsteps approaching, and 4) a tortoiseshell because we like their coloring. So we thought that when we found a kitten with all that, we might give her a try. A week ago today, I opened the shopper and saw a picture of a 9 week old female tortoiseshell kitten that was described as delightful and trusting of people even though she was found wandering on a country road. I called right away, but was told there were many calls for her already and that they make a list of those interested and go in order of who called first. So, I thought she sounded perfect, but I didn't think we had a chance. Luckily, the next day, we were told she was ours if we wanted her. I know we were meant to have this kitten. I was telling Joel, just as surely as we knew that Sophie (our other cat who Joel rescued as a stray) was meant to be ours, this little kitty is supposed to be a part of our family. I guess I said surely a couple times because Joel said, "maybe we should name her Shirley." And so, that is how Shirley came to be a part of our family.