L. Con 3

At the beginning of June, John, Skylark, and I ran away for the weekend for the (now-annual!) meeting of minds to celebrate and soak in the works of R.A. Lafferty. John's parents- saints that they are- drove straight from Tennessee, where they were helping Bryan and Sarah pack for a move, to Nanticoke, where they could relax and rest with EIGHT CHILDREN. (Ha!) Bless their bones.

Right before we left, I finished making a big chicken pot pie, and I asked Millie to assemble it. When I walked past her to the door, I noticed her hurrying with the pie slits in order to say goodbye to us, but it wasn't until she brought it out that I noticed the subtle, crusty message.

 

Or not-so-subtle...

The con is John's brainchild, and he leads the day's events, so Skylark and I had to spend some time on our own. We hung out here Friday evening while John set up and then after dinner on Saturday night while he talked business with the big-wigs. Remember him?  She looks even cuter on that big bed. (SO BIG. We could lie three-to-it and still have space for an additional body between each of us. Craziness.)

As usual, I overestimated the amount of time I'd have for reading while I was away, especially considering the Kindle contained several books I was dipping into.

Skylark was the only baby there. Weird. I was able to listen in on about half of the lectures and panels during the day and spent the rest of them walking around trying to get Lark to sleep, or, if that failed, taking pictures of us together.

Best selfie ever.

Clearly, this one's second-rate.

I will never tire of time with this bearded fellow, my Friend of all friends. I rarely take pictures of him, but Yakov V. has no such compunction, and while lending his skills to record the event, he took this one of us. I love it even more for its rarity. Thank you, Yakov! (...who does not know this blog exists.)

Out with a (Slight) Bang (A.K.A. At Least Standardized Testing Is Good for Something)

The day the three oldest were due to leave for Bible camp, we went on a day outing to celebrate the completion of Iowa tests, as has become tradition, with a walk on the dike-- replete with ice cream!-- followed by a stint at the playground and then swimming. I took no pictures at the playground or at the lake's beach because I was too busy getting sunburnt.


Here's ice cream, the dike, and some cute children running thereon. (Also included are a few snapshots of your truly, but only because various children carried the camera along the way.)

 D'you ever feel super-duper rich? So rich that gratitude feels like it's going to burst you wide open?

Me, too.

Look at all of this dragon treasure lined up in a row.

I Just Can't Believe It

A May wedding.  We arrived spare minutes before the wedding began (that part I can believe), and I only snapped two pictures (camera in one hand; Lark in the other).

What I can't believe is that these two lovely young ladies used to look like this,

and the fact that this stunning bride used to look like this has me turning in circles looking for the time that ran off when I wasn't looking.

Oops.  I actually took three pictures.  Here's some riff-raff I saw loitering outside the pavilion.  Can't imagine where they all came from...

Seasonal Labor

The gardens always look so pitiful at the beginning that it's hard to imagine anything fruiting up in them.

Good thing the garlic's growth reminds me that miracles can spring forth from stony ground.

Girls cutting scapes.

Thank you, Aunt Sarah J.! Johnny Cash is her favorite singer, so it follows that this is her new favorite shirt. :)

If Only We Were Neighbors

This post brought to you by a good chum's generosity in lending us her children for a bit while she flew to Holland. (Go forth and visit Holland yourself through her photos, just like I did.  They are wonderful. Just plug "A Dutch Girl Goes to Holland" into her search bar to see them all.)

These two were the closest I might ever come to having twins.

They ate together, got covered in mud together, were scrubbed together, napped, and then immediately got dirty again...together.

They were here for Aidan's birthday, too! Aidan was pretty happy.

Birthday swimming at the pond involved lots of life jackets on small bodies so that I didn't have a nervous breakdown.  It all went swimmingly. (Pun. Forgive me.)

Ineke was so sweet, all tuckered out on the drive to meet her papa. Next time you fly to Holland, Rebecca, we'll take them for the whole week!