yard

Those summer nights…

| Stacy

We FINALLY made time to pull out the fire pit and get busy with s’mores.
But since we’d seen how the mosquitoes had made a meal out of Katriel  last week, some of the kids got serious about covering up.
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We’d waited until Katriel went to bed, as I’m weird about fire and fast moving toddlers. 
We ate way too many calories, as I told the kids stories of our trip to Kenya in 1998.
It was fun.  Really fun. 

Yard things and outside fun

| Stacy

I don’t love rain, but I love rainbow weather.  First full one we’ve seen from our yard.  And a double one at that.
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The kids and I were playing yard games and as I backed up under a tree, I saw Marie’s eyes grow large.  I needed no words to back out of there.
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We continued our games in another spot in the yard.  Or multiple spots….
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The joy of mud.

| Stacy

The (?) $5,000 pool in the back yard didn’t hold a candle to the fun that they found near the swing set.
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Tabitha (and Hanny) dug a hole under the swing.
Tab filled it with water in an extremely clever way.

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They were filthy. 

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And happy.  (Really – she is happy.)

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The boys opted to use a sprinkler under the trampoline – an activity Nigel unintentionally named “sprinkoline.”

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Summer rocks. 
This is the best summer I have had in a while.  Lots and lots of time to have fun with these guys.

Kirek

| Stacy
One of the first great things we noticed when we moved here in 2007 was the preponderance of backyard visitors.  Our first meal in this house had us counting 14 deer in the back yard.  Other visitors have included raccoons in the trees, an occasional fox or coyote, unwanted groundhogs, straying cats and dogs, and bunnies. 
Our favorite are the bunnies.  I’ve always loved bunnies and it seems my kids feel similarly.  Katriel REALLY loves bunnies.  Really, really.
Well, this morning as I was cleaning the kitchen Marie called out to me that something was wrong with a bunny’s ear.  I comforted her, saying that bunnies can actually turn their ears to many angles.  She then asked if bunnies can flop down part of their ear while the rest of it stood up.  This I had to see. 
It looks like this bunny had a go with something.  BUT – since the bunny is still here we decided she must be very smart and brave. 
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We quickly took the the business of naming her.  Her?  Yes, Marie said it looked like a girl bunny. 
I typed in “names that mean brave” in the computer that was just next to the window.  Hundreds of names popped up.  I asked Marie to pick a letter.  She selected K.  And then when we saw the name Kirek, she chose that one.  Kirek is an Israeli name that means brave.  PERFECT. 
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The bunny lingered close to the house.  Really close.  And while she looked up frequently she never scampered off.  Most bunnies do not stay near the house long.  The noises in the house usually send them running.  She moved from near the family room window to around by the living room window by the time the kids assembled for devotion.  Stewart saw her and said, “Oh.  That must be the deaf bunny.”  I asked why he thought she was deaf and pointed out that just because her ear was damaged couldn’t guarantee she could not hear.  He acknowledged that but went on to explain that he and Daddy had encountered a bunny they were sure was deaf because she did not high-tail it off when they were working around the yard noisily.  It was only when she saw them approaching that she darted away. 
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This theory was tested and seemingly proven when we had a two-year-old jab on the window, and then again when Marie opened and shut the front door to head out for a photo. 
Yes.  Kirek seems to either REALLY REALLY trust us, or she is hearing impaired.  She has yet to tell us how she sustained the injury to her ear.  We like to imagine that she was pounced upon by a dog, or fox, but because she is so brave and brilliant she escaped death.

A rainbow

| Stacy

and a garbage can
and a neighbor’s car
and a light post…
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We see some pretty great rainbows out our front door… 
Sadly, it is probably the worst view from our house that we could have.  🙂 
All those fields around our house would make prettier pictures.

But we like it when we see them.  How can we not?