Fourth of July Fireworks at the Beach

 

Again this year we traveled to Florida in July. 

And had a completely wonderful vacation with our extended family

We celebrated on the Fourth and again on Saturday!! Woo-Hoo!

Not everyone loves fireworks.

Bella for one. You know, the sweet little puppy who is always under my heels and never leaves my side? Yeah, Bella ran away. We were out until one in the morning looking for the mutt. I wonder sometimes if this poor creature wouldn't have been better off with a different family.

Two days later, Kim found a flyer posted in the Post Office. 

Found Dog. Call #

and a picture of a sad scared muttly on a stranger's kitchen floor.

She showed up on this nice family's doorstep and they made real effort to help her find her way home.

Lucky dog. 

Pool Time

We told them that "This Shot is for Grandma!"

CANNONBALL!!!!

Catching Up... Not Quite

We're here! We haven't fallen off the face of the earth. All is well. We're having a terrific summer.

During most of June I took some pictures here and there, not too many. But never seemed to have a story to tell here on the blog. No big adventures.

Then we spent the first two weeks of July at the Sanders' lake house in Florida. I have a bunch of pictures from all the fun we had during that wonderful visit!

It is my intention to get back on the blog train, and I figured I'd start with today's fun - while it is still fresh, and go back and fill in the missing days, weeks and months, as I get an opportunity! Sooner the better, I know!!

I love you all, thank you for your kindnesses, support, and affection. :)

Casa de Fruta

Casa de Fruta is a (ahem) produce stand in Pacheco Pass about an hour's drive from home. It is a hundred-year old produce stand/restaurant/gas station/deli/winery/rv park/hotel/amusement park/animal sanctuary/and...  on the route between the valley and Monterrey Bay. 

Kristen and Summer are here visiting for the week, and this was our first major excursion. And what a good time we had! 

We got to play on the retired steam engine...

 And ride the two-mile-long narrow gauge rail.

We saw many interesting things on our train ride, not the least of which was "Kevin." Named after the rare bird from Pixar's "UP", Kevin is the name we gave to each of the many peacocks we saw during our visit. 

We took a few moments to smell the roses, while we waited...

and waited...

...more or less patiently

For our carousel ride
on a beautiful double-decker carousel.

These little girls are each so packed full of personality. 

They are keeping us on our toes!! 

silly! silly! silly! 

Then it was time for our Sluicing Adventure, as dusty ol' crusty ol' prospectors!

"It's Gold, I Tell Ye! GOLD!"

Bella's R.O.U.S.

The other morning, as Jeff was leaving for work, I heard him, out on the patio, yelling to Bella: "Bella, Over Here!" "Bella, No." "Bella, Aagh, Here!" 

I HAD to go see. There was a largish "Rodent-Of-Unusual-Size" under the grill, and they were trying get it. They did at last flush it from under the grill cover, and corner the doomed varmint by the patio step. 

Before the corpse was buried, I let Bella check it out.

Venus in Transit

Jeff brought home a couple welding lenses for us to observe with! 

He was even able to use them with the camera.

Can you see Venus between the 2 and 3 o'clock position? 

and our feast of fresh picked fruit, nuts and cheese. 

A Little Exploring

We decided that looked a bit steep - especially considering the dry, loose surface debris.

but we found something else to climb!

we watched the deer, the roadrunners, the clouds, and had a little snack 

Mimi even got to ride a pony! ;-)