Cool As A Cucumber

    A very muggy week of temperatures in the 90's, and I am dreading going out to check on the garden. I have a pretty small garden, but in the last couple of years I have gotten kind of wimpy about being out in the heat and the sun. I am expecting wilted, spindly plants and quite a few weeds from my neglect. In a few places there are weeds and a couple of scrawny plants (but they were clearance ones to begin with) and then I see my bush cucumber patch, where a little ray of sunshine peeks out to greet me.

     I look under the mound of large, healthy, green leaves and am pleased to see the almost weed free area filled with cheery yellow flowers.

    Aaahhh, the anticipation for crisp, cool cucumbers will be building now and will keep me venturing  out into the heat to check up on the garden.

Pool Fun With Lillian

      About when I am thinking a visit with Tami would be nice, she messages and says she and Lillian are ready for a road trip....how's the pool?

It is mid-summer and the refreshing poolside atmosphere will make for a fun visit.

I was happy that Stephanie also, decided to come.

Stephanie and Lillian

 Time to slather lotion on Lillian, which can be quite an undertaking since she does not hold still!

She's still trying to go up the steps while one leg is being held back.

 We all had a fun time, especially watching Lillian experience the water.

Oh boy, time to jump in!

"Ha, Ha, Aunt Stephanie...I fooled you."

Her swimsuit is much more stylish than mine :-)

 I really liked all her facial expressions and body movements.

Hey, I am swimming!

Time to get out of the sun for a bit and have some lunch.

Waiting patiently for lunch

Bet you can't tell what I had for lunch.

Ready and rarin' to go back into the pool

Keeping busy until the grownups are ready to get back into the pool.

Hand game ?

Who splashed who here?

Which color noodle will a girl with so much style choose?

definitely the pink!!

Not sure about floating on top of the water.

Yep, this is better.

practicing synchronized swimming

 To get Lillian used to putting her head under water, Grammy Tami used the method we used with our kids....blowing in their face and dunking at the same time.

This method would probably work better if Lillian did not turn her head :-)

Surprised, but not upset :-)

 A little piano time...

 and then it is time to leave :-(

She dangled there for a few seconds until she felt it was safe to 'drop'

The Woods

     "The Woods", a rustic, family get-away place since I was a child, has become a place even more treasured by me ( my kids and probably my siblings and their families) as the years have rolled on by. It is especially fun now to see what combination of relatives will be there when I am. Besides the good company of my Mom,  Martha (sister), William (brother), and Bill (nephew), this time was especially fun because  Gabriel and Sky(grand-nephews) were there without their mom or grandparents. Even though I like the grown-ups company, their absence made it possible for me to spend more time with Gabriel and Sky. It was fun to see their enthusiasm for the same type of things/activities that I did as a child and my sons did when they were kids.

Monopoly may be an old -time favorite board game....but not for me. It was fun to listen to them play and make up their own rules for it.

       From the cabins we would walk the 1/2 mile to Garrett Bay for a variety of activities.

    They would even stop to check out the interesting plants. 

Surprisingly, this one did not get 'blown to pieces' .

     The next few pics are of flowers/plants that I liked along the way.

A few milkweed seeds still nicely sheltered in their pods.

Columbine

    Once there, we would enjoy the views that I never get tired of.

     Sophie (Bill's dog) enjoyed Garrett Bay, also.

Being petted by 2 people at once, Sophie must be very happy.

     Of course there is always swimming and 'sneak attack' splashing!

I had not noticed the splashing at the time....Sky did not even make a noise!

         After being in the cool waters, a sun-warmed rock/platform is quite relaxing.

      Perfect place for a rock throwing (or skipping) contest.

   Then it is time to walk....

I don't think they could walk any closer together :-)

       or race back to the cabins.

     Newport State Park provides some interesting/fun nature programs. One evening we went for a talk about spiders and one of the things we learned about was the Peacock Spider and it's mating dance (it is on youtube and is worth checking out). Gabriel and Sky liked it so much that they gave us a very good imitation of the dance.

     The next morning we were back at Newport for a spider collecting walk. This activity will be done for the next few years in order to try and get a record of the different species of spiders at the park. We had Gabriel and Sky go in order to try and desensitize them from their 'fear' or dislike of spiders.
     Before we get going, we first get to view what spiders were collected last summer.

Spiders don't seem to scare them when they are in bottles.

     Spider collecting methods were demonstrated.

     Then off we go collecting :-)

Trepidation may be showing a bit on Sky's  face, but he has Bill and Sophie for support.

    Now we are shown how to get the spiders out of a net.

    And before you know it Mom and sky are busy collecting from their own net.

Sky is getting closer to live spiders.

 William is 'net sweeping' the brush for spiders.

      This Wolf spider gave me quite a run-around when I tried to catch him. He was much more adept than me at scurrying through the leaf litter.

    Sky is actively involved now and getting quite close to the spiders.

Calm and careful collecting

    I did not realize that spiders molt, but here is an exoskeleton of a spider.

kind of like a natural sculpture in the woods

    After collecting, we had the opportunity to view what we found under microscopes.

Gabriel looks a little wary about what he is seeing....I wonder how many spider eyes are staring back at him!

Such fun expressions on their faces.

     All ages were captivated by seeing the spiders under the microscope....definitely made me want to go collecting on my own and get my dusty microscope out!

        Our vials of spiders that will be identified by experts at a later date. Who knows if we have a rare one among all the ones we found/collected! If we attend this 'event' next year, we may find out.

    In between the outdoor adventures we did some crafts of origami and....

All tuckered out from all the activities.

If you stayed in one spot too long, you may be origamied with a Samurai helmet.

     building cardboard cars.

    A very good time was had by all 4 generations during my time at THE WOODS :-)

I'll leave this blog with a few more nature pics from this trip: