so, yeah...3 weeks is a long time between posts. but i've been buuuuusy peoples!!!
okay, obviously these pictures are older but they are part of my "catching up". i took pictures of my garden 3 weeks ago after putting down straw mulch...
okay, so last time i wrote, we were getting ready for a weekend of camping, swimming, and birthday celebrating! we went to the nolichucky river to hang out with friends and wish nesta a happy 14th birthday!!! we had a lot of fun!!! and the view ain't too shabby either:
riding the "rapids"...
grown up type people sunning...
searching for mica in the water...
BEFORE she decided that getting in the water fully dressed was better than baking in the sun...
i birthed a sierra...
ren leading a troop to ride the wild river...
coming back from a rock climbing expedition...
cake time!!!! happy birthday nesta!!
nesta got a new lizard!!!
sweet friends!!
this crowd is saying "hell no! we are not getting in that pond!"
this crowd is saying "oh hell yeah!!"
there was a lot of fun that night, movie watching, a camp fire. and then...a little walk in the dark to the pond to check out the frogs and sleeping salamanders. this resulted in the finding of two frogs mating and laying eggs on the surface of the water. we accidentally scared them and they jumped, splashing the eggs all over samuel's and sierra's legs!!!! lots and lots of screaming and laughing!!! samuel totally freaked, as you can imagine! i said the mating frogs looked like a slimy, giant, green vagina. aleah thought that was disrespectful to women!! ren thought it was funny and almost peed her pants during the whole episode!! okay, i almost did too. we also got scared of our flashlight reflections in the glass across the pond ("samuel, there are people over there...shhhh"...."oh wait, that's us"...more laughter). duncan declared it the best camp out ever!! this was mostly because of samuel having frog eggs splashed all over him!! they both went into the girls bathroom and when i found them, duncan was laughing his ass off and samuel and sierra had their legs in the shower spraying them off!! it was quite a sight!!
we left the campground sunday morning, tired and ready for some rest at home. duncan fell asleep on the couch pretty much as soon as we came in and slept until almost 5, samuel and sadie took a nap as well!!! tired, happy kids!! the best!!!
kelly and ben came to our house on monday and we all hung out for awhile before heading to atlanta bread company for supper. we picked up taylor and karina on the way and met ren and her kids there. we ended up staying way past closing but they were really nice to us anyway.
tuesday, we went to boone dam swimming area with kelly and ren. scotty and ben biked over. no one else from sofh showed up!! but we enjoyed the sun and a picnic while the kids enjoyed the water!! but i have no pictures =(
wednesday was all about quiet and home and watching star trek that had been sitting waiting for us all week while we were too busy to watch anything! and SYTYCD too...of course! and grocery shopping...it was pay day!!
thursday was a busy one...laundry, library AND we went to deanna's house to play (we even painted our toenails!!). then it was home to get ready for our big weekend trip to georgia!!
got up early friday morning to finish packing and then woke up the kids and headed out on the road! we got to the haworth's house just after the traaseths and just in time to EAT!! in case you didn't know, this is what unschoolers DO!!
shuck that corn ladies!
mindy in all her cuteness looking like she's on the food network
a few of the awesome kids...
fun with grapes!!!!!
more eating...
the next day was the 4th and we were heading to the falls for a hike, a swim and a picnic
almost all the kids
headed to the falls, over the swingin' bridge ya'll
that water is sooooome kinda cold!!!
heading back up...
a little break at an overlook...
the picnic shelter where we ate and played tag...
on the way back to the haworth's house, we stopped at DQ. this was an idea that alec and i cooked up on the way to the falls when we passed it. alec and few others got their DQ fix and then we headed to the fireworks store...where you can also get cold beer!! me thinks this is not such a good combination!! but i found some black snakes and i was happy!! then we went to check out another ice cream place that mindy had recommended but it was closed =(. soooo, we went and picked up ice cream at the store for those who had decided to skip DQ for the better local stuff (don't worry, we still shared it with those lucky DQ eatin' peeps). and then it was back to the house for more fun...a bonfire and backyard fireworks...yeehaw!! it was awesome!!!
just hangin' out before the night's festivities began...
did i mention food?
yeah for black snakes!!
abbi showing off some of her new moves that she learned from mindy...isn't she graceful?? look at those fingers!!
having fun with night time photography
mindy has a picture of me taking this picture on her blog...LOL
we had so much fun at the haworth's. i learned a new game, rummikub. and had the best room in the house!! went for wonderful walks and enjoyed the warm weather.
sunday morning we got up and started, very slowly, getting ready for our trip the the traaseths. alec and kyra rode with us and we had a really fun ride. we got there and took saddi for a walk down to the boat dock, it was really nice out and it felt good to stretch my legs...even though they were tired from all the walking and hiking the previous days. scotty finally got there around 8 or so. it is all becoming quite a blur now!! so here are some pix to fill in the gaps!!
LOTS of rock band was played...
this is how i found silas the next morning!!!...see the empty bed???...
MORE game playing!!
and a little hair dyeing
one of many awesome performances by abbi...
silas was always right there to listen to her play...
then the dads got into the wii action with some warioware...
the colorful ladies. i cut kelli's hair but you can't see it very well here...
AGAIN with the games...
and the rock band...
and the over doing it...
and YES, scotty finally gave in and played "fake" guitar!! this was his first time on any kind of instrument game. he had never even played our guitar hero at home because he said he would NEVER play those kinds of games...never say never is what i say!!!
sadielicious
on tuesday, wendy and shelby came over to hang out with us for a bit. we got wendy to play some games too!!!!
the kids were playing some kind of crazy game, i have no idea what...
finally, we packed up and headed home. happytiredhappy!!!
wednesday was another quiet, chill out day and watching SYTYCD. this seems to be all wednesdays are good for now =).
thursday was scotty's 40th birthday!! he didn't want any parties or anything special. that's just how the man is. but we love him anyway!! i didn't take any pictures that day but a few days later thought to take this one of the banner sadie made:
friday we went to MOTS with ren and her crew. we only halfway listen to the music when we go to these things. mostly we hang out on the big blanket and talk. it was really nice to just relax awhile!
saturday, scotty helped me cut my hair!! i had been wanting to do this for awhile so i finally got around to it.
well folks, there is more to add but this was the latest i had gotten to when i first started the draft of this a few days ago. i'll get to the more recent stuff real soon...i promise.
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these rest of these pictures (except the very last one) were taken by karina...i let her go nuts with my camera...i only shared a fraction of what she took, that girl is crazy with a lens!!!...
as it was getting close to dark, we packed up all our stuff and headed to jana's campsite for a marshmallow roast!! it was an awesome day. in case i have never mentioned this before...i absolutely LOVE my friends. you guys make this life complete!!
