Mid-June

School's over, the summer has begun, we're having all sorts of fun doing this and that... This is gonna be a Hit The High Points kind of post, 'cause I've got to get something up before our big western memory-making trip.

A while back I had the opportunity to go to central PA for a veterinary meeting in a beautiful setting.

The cicadas are here!

Of course there was Jenn's trip to Thailand and Cambodia, but these photos haven't yet been processed and Jenn's been bouncing from one thing to another and hasn't yet had an opportunity to compose a post... more to come on this later.

Lincoln's big year-long Project Ocean was on display as the school year came to a close. He was awesome, and the progression he showed from his early projects to the final ones was remarkable. Score one for OTS!

And some catch-ups...

S'more w/ a Camping Marshmallow...

And this wandered into our yard...

Wild Canary

The wildlife seems to be enjoying our new landscaping. This American Goldfinch, a.k.a. Wild Canary, (Carduelis tristis) has been buzzing around the surrounding yards over the past few months, but finally settled in our yard for a time to get some seeds.
If you've been over at our Home and heard us refer to "the protest lay," this is what we're talking about. Bridget used to do this, and Gretel also does it to perfection. It occurs when we tell Gretel to lay down when she clearly doesn't want to. She goes through the motions, and technically lays down, but she's ready to spring up at a moment's notice.

Bird Feeder & Chili Party

Last Wednesday Lincoln and I went shopping for our Operation Christmas Child. I explained to him that we were shopping for Christmas presents for a little boy his age. Once he got into it, he said as we were walking up and down the isles through the shelves, "He would like that dump truck. He would like that drill. He would like that Thomas. He would like..." And every time I said, "We have to fit all of this in a shoebox."

Yesterday was a fun day. In the morning we took the huge pinecone that Jenn and Lincoln found on a walk the other day and coated it with peanut butter and bird seed for the birds in the yard. Lincoln had fun making a mess with the supplies!

Last night was our annual Gates-Wingader Chili Party. There were eight different chilis and it was again a fun mix of people. Our circle of friends doesn't overlap the Wingader's circle too much, so this party has historically been a fun time to meet new folks and catch up with others, and last night didn't disappoint. The criteria for voting on the best chili is that one has to sample all eight. Not that that was a problem, it was fun being a food critic and it was funny to see a number of people actually making notes (me included!). The icing on the cake was Jenn's chili taking home the trophy!Another nice thing last evening was that Lincoln AND Lydia stayed at Grandpa Doug & Grandma Paulette's and Lydia had her first bottle. That went very well, she didn't miss a beat.A mild case of the Sick Bug is going through the Gates Home. Lincoln has had a major runny nose. Lydia has had some mild congestion and Jenn and I are on the edge, not feeling sick, but definitely feeling on the edge. That may just be the lack of sleep.

Birds

Two fun things that we've done recently:

First, we hung a bird feeder on our deck. Let's just say, if you hang it, they will come.
Secondly, Lincoln, Gretel and I went for a walk down to the beaver dam. It was a Herculean feat just to get to the boardwalk, but we had a great time and saw some cool things: a blue herron very close to the path, an ant hill, some fish, a lock... there was just so much to distract a two-year-old!