The Day Before

Our morning began with blueberry muffins from a box, which were surprisingly scrumptious.  There's a story behind these. It involves birthdays which have been overshadowed by other events.  Ask me later.

Luke and Ben had fun with my magnets.  I love this.

Jeff couldn't find his sunglasses before leaving with the kids.  They helped look.

Ben found remainders from his cousin's birthday.

He and Lewis know how to have a good time.

In fact, they play quite sweetly together.

Ren dropped in.  He had a good time before absconding with Steve.

I spoke with Luke and Ben about the upcoming activities.  When I mentioned I had bought books for the plane, they wanted to know what they were.  So much for that good idea.

The books got read this afternoon, with unused quarters in their pockets.

Janet and I spied a beaver in the river on our afternoon walk.  I took some kids back to find him.

Big cousin helped little cousin down to the river.

Rocks are a lot of fun.

So are ducks.

Jane startled a snake who slithered into the river.

We watched him for a long time.  I thought it was creepy, but the kids said it was nature.

We saw a lot of nature.

Older Ben spied a bird above us in the tree.

Younger Ben, on his own, pointed out this paraglider.

We didn't see the beaver, but the kids told me not to feel bad.  We headed back to the house.

Fall is coming.  The weather is crisp.  Jane loves her new jacket.

Ben took advantage of the open back door.

Janet overheard Ben and Luke talking about planting roses and trees.  They taught her the finer points of Minecraft.

Corinne painted Jane's nails.

Janet made macaroni and cheese for the kids.  Ben was hungry, but very patient and polite.

During the day, Jeff scored 50,000,000 points.  Steve tried to beat that.

So did Dave.  Maybe tomorrow.

In the meantime, two darling granddaughters got a good Star Trek fix.

Rubbish Truck & Other Adventures

Ben and I got an early start this morning.

We were hunting for the garbage man.

Ben calls this the rubbish truck.

We actually stalked him, but he didn't seem to mind.

Then we headed out on a walk.  Ben got stuck.

We found a really great stick.

It was a busy day, but we found time to put together a few puzzles.

In the afternoon, Ben squealed with delight while Papa washed the deck.

Ben helped for awhile.  A cookie break was necessary.

Ben kept a close eye on Papa with the noculars.

We checked the traps we have set for the yellow jackets.  Ben was a little cautious.

Jill dropped in to say hi.  She likes our new attraction.

Ben demonstrated his skills.

Jill's mother accepted a quarter and played, too.

Lewis brought his parents this afternoon.  He and Ben are old buds.

Luke and his family arrived.  He's getting pointers from Uncle Steve and Papa.

He was mesmerized.

Uncle Steve took a turn.  He's amazing.

Jane took a turn, too, but she has other interests.

We had a birthday party.

We sang a round of Happy Birthday.

We sang Happy Birthday to this Ben, too.

Gifts for the un-birthday people were in order.

Sometimes I get lucky in this department.

For the record, this is Steve being polite after one of Jeff's jokes.

My estimation is that Steve's joke was just a little funnier.