idyll

Long summer days.

We have surely enjoyed them in August.

This week has been, for me, an idyll.  I am so relaxed, I might not recognize myself.

We are gorging ourselves on the bounty of a freezer newly stocked with homemade jams!

 Colorado peaches are in season!  We wait ALL SUMMER for these weeks.  And I do believe we have taken full advantage of their luscious ripeness and perfect flavor.  Three peaches a day is normative for us all right now!  Peaches on yogurt in the morning, peaches sliced on salad for lunch, peaches with salmon or grilled with chicken for dinner, peaches and cream over coconut cupcakes in the evening.

As you can see, my healthy eating is coming along nicely.  Ha!

We are all in complete bliss!

My parents hosted me and the three littles last week.  We had a ball.  The Quarry Hill Nature Center was a highlight:

 little nature walk by the pond

 bird watching

egg identification.

It all was so fun.  As was our very own backyard nature experience.  We looked out the window one evening to see a fawn cavorting across Gogo and Pa's lawn.  And truly, he was frolicking.  The fawn was with a daddy deer, and my mom and I got to laughing so hard saying any mother deer would have put an immediate halt to such gaiety.

"Son, can you not see that those people in the houses can all see you?  You are a p.r.i.m.e. t.a.r.g.e.t. gallivanting like that across the green summer glade.  Stop that fun and revelry this instant and come be boring and staid with me, your dear and ever-loving mother".

That is the dad, who you can hardly see with my bad phone camera.  I have video of that yearling, and can't figure out how to upload it to the blog.  If I could, you would be astounded by his jauntiness!

Another summer evening had us relaxing at Lake Harriet bandshell taking in the beautiful night with friends and listening to....music from Woodstock.  Yes, we were.  It was quite the spectacle.  And rather fun!  Jeb, however, was horrified that we were listening to "drug music from the dark ages".

 Cute Jenn and Miss Molly.

The bandshell before the band got playing.  They were total throwbacks who would gladly have revisited the "3 days of glory" if they could have.  They were....to use a family term, unique and interesting.  That is the northern way of saying, "bless their hearts".  If you don't know what that means, then bless your heart, too.

 EEmma and Mama.  She thought a picnic was rather grand.

And last but not least, we have girls at the Como Zoo!  We had so much fun, and they loved seeing all the animals.  It was fun to do it with girls.  The things they are interested in are so much different than our resident boys.

A zebra folllowed Anna all along the fence line.  She would run up and the zebra would follow, and then she'd run back and there that cute zebra would go right along with her!  That was Anna's favorite part of the zoo.  Maybe mine, too!

Emma couldn't believe how tall the giraffes were and how looonnnggg their tongues were either!  It was so funny.  She had people around us laughing too as she exclaimed her wonder.

The week has also been full of Mercy Watson books and my own leisurely mind candy reads.  I love reading in summer...it is such an escape in such a beautifully relaxing and indulgent way to mark summer.

Cooper and Luke return from camp tomorrow.  Then the true countdown to summer's end begins...

A lovely idyl,l August.  Sweet memories.