As Great as Ever

Faithful readers-- and, really, who am I kidding? If you're reading this, you're a faithful reader-- know that, in a tradition dating from my childhood, we cap off each summer with a trip to the state fair. Each year, I subject you to pictures of Turtle Mound, the Rainbow Milk Bar, the butter sculpture, and the Big Top in miniature. I'm not one to disappoint, so here is this (last) year's batch.

Turtle Mound.

 

Piper left secret codes in Indian Village.



Then, when we entered the longhouse,





she ignored all else and left some more. Suspicious.



John, bless his bones, humors us every year and carts us through the thick of things he couldn't be less interested in,



even things such as the Rainbow Milk Bar! 

The butter sculpture!

Trout and turtles!

The beginning of the sand sculpture!

Walking tree-folk! (Susie is asking here if she can touch it. We said yes.)

The Big Top in miniature! Elaborate train sets!

 

A circus with riding ladies!

And acrobats from Chile!

And a fire-breathing ringmaster!

 Even though the girls took many pictures, this is all I've got to show for it.
Ending with a fizzle...

Band of Merry

 We went to Greenwood a few times this summer and serendipitously were able to have the whole lake to ourselves for a slice of each visit.

 Look! With the clouds and gray, we cleared everyone out!

 

 Visit #2.

 

  

 

I would have thought it was the gray sky from the first visit-- rather than our presence-- that cleared the waters, if it had not been for the success of our second visit.



Blue sky, summer sun, clear water...

...and a lake to ourselves all over again, just like magic.

Sparrow

Our friends Phil and Heidi were expecting their first little one this summer, and we were glad to be able to attend a baby shower. Here, Phil flashes a brutal grin as he prepares to cut into HIMSELF.



And here's the lucky lad who got to eat Phil's face.



Sorry for the gruesome beginning to this post. Things improved after the cake was consumed. Nasal syringe!



Even before Sigrid was born, it was easy to see what a great papa Phil would be.



And the Mama Bird? Well, her prowess was also clear.



Eleventy-first.

(As a reward for finishing up the laundry, I give you another post.  If I mop the downstairs in the next half hour, I'll type out another. And, hey, if anyone wants to come finish all my work, I'll give you three!)

On the other branch of the family tree, this summer the descendents of Benjamin and Zelumah gathered for the 111th consecutive reunion.  Take that, Bilbo!

John had to work, but the girls and I hitched a ride with my parents, which reminded me of childhood summer reunions when all seven of us kids plus two parents squeezed into the rusty-station-wagon-of-the-moment, sweltering in summer's heat as Dad meandered through the wild and woodsy haunts of his childhood while providing a steady stream of anecdotes that, I'm ashamed to say, we didn't always appreciate for the gems they were.  End that convoluted sentence and take me home, country roads...


And speaking of that Pennsylvania Popsy, here he is with Simmy.

 

Give him donuts and punch, and he's as happy as a fox in a henhouse.

A fox wouldn't sport such a dapper moustache, though.

 

 Annika and Hannah enjoyed catching up.

 

I enjoyed watching Haven watching August charm the crowds.

 

 

My brother Pete and a big, wonderful mess of children.

 

Sister Debbie and Pip inspect the cupholders, which coordinate admirably with their clothing.  

 

Pretty, pretty.

 

To end this batch of snapshots, Pip foils the paparazzi.

Because I Should Not Be Blogging Right Now...

Here's a lackluster start.  Way back at the beginning of July, year of our Lord 2012, we vacationed in Long Island.  Remember?  That's the last time I put up more than our first family photo.

Too many days have passed to do our summer visit justice, especially considering we just returned a few days ago from our winter visit to the same lovely home and the same loving family.  Posting these with winter wind and snow framing the backdrop puts me out of sorts, so this will be short.

Dude outdid himself with the blooming borders and beds this year.  Their garden-yard is (was) gorgeous, thanks to his artistic eye and a heap of work.

Ezekial was 2 and a half months old here.  Oh, the sweetness.

The annual summer-with-the-cousins photo, courtesy of Sarah borrowing the Fancy Camera.  (All photos in this post from this point on, excepting the last, were taken by Sarah.)  I should have given her the camera the moment we arrived.  Look at these beauties!

 

Pretty girls Anna and Alex with the Boy.

Alex and Zeke.

Anna and Trevor. 

During our week, they spoiled us at the water park (!!! but no pictures) and with a Huge Cookout with Piles of Food and Lots of Nice People, including Aunt Karen, who made me laugh a lot and who, as I discovered, reads this blog (Hullo, Aunt Karen!).

Other highlights were conversation, always enjoyed, with sister-in-law April, who dotes on the babes something fierce, 

 

hours spent in the pool (I may have taken a dip or two myself),

 

a bubble machine unveiled at dusk, 

 

and visits with neighbor-friends!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sorry for all the exclamation points; however, I'm sure you can see the events warrant exclamation points. To balance them out, we also slept a lot, because what's a vacation without sleeping?

 

More will come.

I figure if I chug through summertime in the next week and tackle fall the week after that, maybe shotsnaps will be caught up to the weather outside (which is frightful) before spring! 

SIZZLE! and BOOM! and POW!

Like a cannon-man wearing smoke and a spandex suit, shooting toward the spotlight, here's a post.
Blog long defunct, I am not sorry.  Reader (or two?) long neglected, I am perhaps a little bit sorry.  Life seasons being what they are, and this one being of particular busyness, shotsnaps faced the axe.  I didn't deliberately choose neglect; it simply happened. You may be thankful that I treat my children better than I treat my blog.

Here is a crumb to chew on until that time when I flood this space with such a potent mix of excessive snapshots and words that you wish the internet was never invented.

So for you, my faithful few, I share a rarity near miraculous!  A sight long unseen!  A scarce and skittish creature!...

An Owen Family Photo.

Actually, I give six snapshots, plus a bonus, with variations so slight that only I can spot them.  (And, no, that's not a challenge, but if you spy them, I'll give you a lollipop!) Today I requested our first ever Fancy Family Photo, and John stoically faced the lens with its click-click-click.  TODAY!  This is as close to real-time blogging as you're likely to get from these parts.

Those of you with more than one family photo under your belt are probably better at this than we are.

Out of the thirty pictures, Zeke was showing off his admittedly fine belly in nearly half, 

while in the other half, the aptly named Pip showed her stuff.

Here's your BONUS:

But, look!  After scrubbing behind our ears, going to church, unpacking the van, shoving aside the living room debris to create a small oasis of clean, and asking Piper to please stop making faces at the camera, we look spiffy, if I do say so myself.  (Which I just now did...)

 

ATTENTION: Grandmothers, don't print these just yet.  You just might be seeing some as part of your Christmas present.