Busy Summer

It has been a whirlwind of a summer so far!  I spent a week at camp with 2 of my grandchildren (don't tell but we snuck back home to sleep in our beds at night).  Then there was a week spent in the woods with my husband camping redneck style, followed by a week working in VBS.  This week I've been busy canning salsa and blueberry jam.   Whew!  It makes me tired again just thinking of it all!

Below are a few highlights of our camping trip.

He really enjoyed panning for gold, but alas no luck this time.

He caught a few fish

We did a little Dutch oven cooking.

This is the after shot of the meal above.  It looks a lot more appetizing here doesn't it?

At least one morning of camping calls for homemade biscuits, don't you think?

Now this wasn't cooked in the Dutch oven, but it sure was good!

This may have been my favorite part.

It was beautiful up and down stream!

Things have grown up a lot since our last trip.

We were surrounded by beauty, and the birdsongs were amazing!

...and her nest of eggs

Sweet little momma bird...

Up until now you thought I was kidding about redneck camping.

But, hey, it's not too bad inside, especially when he puts the ac in that little hole in the wall.

We even watched old episodes of Daniel Boone projected onto the side of the trailer.


It was one of the most relaxing trips I've had in a long time.  I took my chair out into the creek
and sat and read, and just let the water swirl all around.

I could have stayed for another week easily!  I didn't see a soul other than my husband for 6 days.  

In the Good Old Summertime

It's too hot to bake, but that doesn't stop the creativity of my family, and the birthday celebrations.

All of us were enamored with this adorable Little Debbie birthday cake whipped up by my South Alabama sister-in-law!

My dear hubby was the chef for the day frying fish, hush puppies, squash, zuchinni, and dill pickles for us all. It was soo good. We all brought sides and celebrated another slew of birthdays.

There was lots of baby love going on. I'm so happy that my grandkids are getting to enjoy their great-grandparents! Not only are they great they are also great, if you know what I mean.

There was also a little water ballet preformed with tutu and all!

A little game of ball started up from the sidelines.

(The ball was already in the water when I took this shot.)

So many cousins to play with,

precious little monkeys hanging around...

siblings to comfort when feelings got hurt,

life jackets to hold up the little ones when all of our larger arms got tired,

and plenty of water to cool everyone down.

Believe it or not at the end of this particular day we all got a little too cool after the sun went down.

Another day filled with things to add to my gratitude list. Every memory being made is another gem to add to the string already so full. What beautiful treasures God has entrusted to me. There are days I feel bad, and times when I get down like every one else, but then there are days like today when I am surrounded by the happy faces of my family and I feel like the richest girl in the world.

Sweet Summer

Nothing like popsicles on a hot day.

Of course a pile of books and a rocking chair can be nice too, 

or playing princess, 

or throwing paper airplanes.