Lake trip

 Esme went to a sleepover last night, and today when she got home we took a little trip down to the lake.  She wanted to go fishing, but it was so very hot - we planned for an 'expedition' that we could come home when we wanted to.  In the middle of it all we cooled off a little on the wooden dock.

 I snapped a picture of her and she snapped one of me.

 She said when it was a cooler day we could come down with our easel and maybe draw some pictures of the lake, because it was so pretty.

 I caught this picture of a grasshopper with its wings open - and she snuck up on the black and blue dragonfly and got a nice detailed pic.

We also saw some 'rose' flowers and a little school of fish swimming in the water by the dock after we had been sitting there quietly for a while.

Of lake walks and ladybugs

 We took a couple of walks to the lake today, it was nice and sunny and not too hot out.  These are the blue star morning glories... but I didn't catch them early enough in the morning to get a splendid picture.

After the first walk Esme came in and made two signs that said 'DR.ESME' and went outside to the truck to open her business.  She said she was prescribing lots of exercise, do this and wiggle on one foot, check your heart if it is healthy, do situps, and pushups and jumping jacks...  We then went inside and got drinks.

Balance on one foot, like this, and wiggle.

 We found a pretty ladybug on the way to the lake, it was still there when I grabbed the camera on the way back.

Now Esme is in the bath getting ready for the birthday party in a few hours.  I'll have hair to brush and braid, and pick out something to wear, and present to wrap.  Mark has made a ginger pork roast to bring with.

Then there is parent teacher conference on Tuesday... promised Esme we might take her out on the lake in the boat on Friday after school if the weather is nice...  that is my next day off.

 

bath done... and she crashed on my blanket while waiting for her hair to dry...

Almost hate to wake her, but we have to get ready soon.

Puppy Humor

Mark took all the puppies down to the lake yesterday for a run.
Including our puppy, Esme ;)

Esme with a dog flood coming up behind her

Your ears look funny! What?

Smile Train

Mom Iggy says: I said you were WEANED!

After the rain in West Tennessee...

Major picture overload here.
We went down to the lake after it rained so hard and flooded so many areas of Tennessee. It wasn't too bad, and Esme and the dogs had a lot of fun. The spillway to the lake is overflowing, and the shore is up two or three feet beyond where it usually is. Esme is also wearing the sundress I made her yesterday, and these are much better pictures of it in action ;)


Spillway at the lake is overflowing


Bunny Dog at the lake spillway drinking water as it passes under her feet


closeup of above picture
she reminds me of a dinosaur





Super Iggy! flying dog!



Misha the swamp dog


Come on little girl, let's go swimming!


Where'd my shoreline go?
How am I going to get on the dock now?


Take off shoes, don't laugh at me!



Feet in the lake


Thank you Mark for this gorgeous picture
Esme was leaning her cheek against Mommy's hand as we walked back home


Caught in Action!
We'll save this picture for blackmail when she is all grown up ;)

This is Esme saying 'NO DADDY' when he tried to butt in on her laundry room game with Grandma. She will get Grandma in there and keep there for a half hour or so doing little games with the dryer, rocks, plastic bags, magnets and the light switch.


Tongue


Daisy

Giant Rabbits sighted at our Lake (not really)

Those rabbits are getting mighty large!


Traffic jam

lake monster!

Summer Solstice

I usually get up at dawn to watch the sunrise on the Solstice, because I was born around 7:30. However, this morning I didn't feel a need to go sit in the sun and ask for 'answers'... I woke up with the sun coming in our windows and across the trees in the yard - and Mark asleep across from me. I had a soft pillow drawn up under my stomach, and our baby nestled there (not kicking, although she had been moving actively just before I went to sleep). I didn't need to go look for answers - because this feels sweet and right. I smiled and went back to sleep for a while.

About nine I went for a walk down to the lake. I sat on the big sandstone rock there and looked out over the mirror surface of the water. The sun was warm, and the blue of the sky was reflected with all the greens of the trees. There are a myriad of grasses, mosses and other life at the lake. I watched fish jump and swim just under the surface, small spiders build their webs betweeen blades of grass, and dragonflies danced out over the lake, fishing for smaller bugs. A mockingbird flew in from a tree to snatch a dragonfly right out of the air. A blue heron took flight across the lake.

Instead of looking for answers I was just soaking in all of the experience. The structure of life, and its many forms, all of what I could see from one small spot on Earth. The colors, and sounds and warmth of that place was alive yet serene. Instead of looking within for a birthday mediatation, I was looking outward and letting it come in.

I'll still be looking for messages, if not expecting them to answer anything. The universe is full of messages and experiences to contemplate on and interpret. It's just part of what I've been exploring all of my life - the journey of being human and stopping to try to understand the moment as well as the destination.

A Puck on the Ice and then into a Hole

Check the comments for a new 'weird things' meme response.
During the warmest part of the day (49 degrees), we went down into the woods near the lake to look at the ice.


Puck watching Mark throw a branch out onto the ice


Ear Deep in a Hole
digging for moles near the lake


Monkey-see Monkey-do
(enlarge to see Puck walking ahead)


Some pictures of the semi-solid ice

It makes interesting shapes in the cracks on the surface.