dreams for the day...

*savoring one small square from the Dark Chocolate and Orange organic, fair-trade chocolate bar I bought last week...heaven, pure heaven

*chopping veggies (mostly from our garden) to make that spaghetti sauce I was going to make yesterday

*bowling (and sucking at it) with Rich and Gray and Max and Annie

*pigging out on the fresh garden salsa I made yesterday

*hanging out the towels to dry on this picture-perfect summer day

*spending time cleaning up my creative space

*reading fairy tales

*being appreciative

our last morning

I have to admit that Friday was a tough day around here. None of us, most of all me, were ready for Happy Week to come to end. I'm serious, it was just so hard taking Chris to the airport. And it took everything I had not to just break down in tears saying "goodbye."

But here's just a few photos from that morning:

I know you already know this, but we miss you, Chris! Thanks for a wonderful week!!!!

more photo inundation (days 4 and 5 of Happy Week)

Dining al fresco:

War wounds after a particularly brutal game of predator crossing:

A trip to one of our favorite local parks, Mendon Ponds:

Feeding the birds:

A bit of local wildlife:

Bookstore #2 (unfortunately, the used book store we tried to hit this day was closed by the time we got there):

An early morning (okay, not that early) game of catch:

Bookstore #3 (by far the most dangerous of those we managed to hit):

A small haul (though Chris, you forgot to include your One World Goods loot):

Supper from our favorite local pizza joint:

photo inundation Niagara Falls (day 3 of Happy Week)

What the camera-happy boys looked like most of the day:

My lovable goofball husband jumping into yet another photo:

On the Maid of the Mist:

At the Rainforest Cafe:

One big-ass stump:

My obsession with taking photos of dead flowers continues:

Everyone rode the tram over the whirlpool except wimpy old me:

photo inundation (days 1 and 2 of Happy Week)

The plan: Pick out my favorite photos from the week and post them.

The problem: Even after deleting the blurry, the duplicate-ish, and the just plain bad shots, there's hundreds and hundreds of photos to choose from. (And we're only halfway through the week.)

The solution: Just post all the ones I want to anyway. After all, no one has to look, right?

At the airport:

At bookstore stop #1 (Borders):

Juggling lessons:

Chimney Bluffs State Park:

(The boys "not getting wet" at Chimney Bluffs.)

Chris petting Lucky for Ana:

Family book club at Casa Azteca:

P.S. Family Book Club was a big success--not only did we eat delicious food and have fun discussing our books, but everyone liked what they had to read.
Max read The Stuff of Legend by Mike Raicht, and gave it an A.
Gray read Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, and gave it a B+. (This is higher praise than it might seem, coming from Gray.)
Annie read The Lonely Werewolf Girl by Martin Millar, and gave it an A+.
Chris read Unwind by Neal Shusterman, and gave it an A+.
Rich read the first three Warriors graphic novels by Erin Hunter, and gave them A (possibly exaggerating his enjoyment for Max's sake).
Debi read The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan, and gave it an A+.

And for next meeting, we're going to learn to Skype (yikes!). The picks:
Max picked the next series of three Warriors graphic novels for Rich.
Gray picked a Pokemon manga for Annie.
Annie picked The Dreaming (vols. 1-3) by Queenie Chan for me.
Chris picked Tales from Outer Suburbia by Shaun Tan for Max.
Rich picked Hoot by Carl Hiassen for Gray.
Debi picked The Stand by Stephen King for Chris.