Today was our anniversary and Matt's day off. That worked out well!
We had planned to go to lunch and then go to a favorite creek spot with some friends. Then the storms hit earlier this week and left big swaths of the area bruised and underwater. The temps dropped and it was too chilly to think about swimming for most of us. So we changed plans yesterday and ended up at Hurricane Creek and then headed to an early dinner at a Mexican place we really like. I had flautas. I will never eat anything else again. One day next week, when I am finally hungry again, I am totally going right back in for more.
These are totally unedited-other than being resized. They look like I used an HDR lens!
I don't know potted plant names, but these were lovely!
Rosemary in bloom!
Clematis!
Something in the Coreopsis family.
Hey guys, picture! Look down here!
Uh, good enough. Ben in particular.
Chan has taken over the waterproof camera.
The pic from the above shot
Spicebush swallowtail
Matt and his 3 princess warriors
The big kids headed to the Twilight Tunnel while the adults and littles stayed at the picnic area. Chan saw this bat!
A couple more underwater shots, in case you were interested in the turbidity levels at the creek.
The keys to a happy marriage. Perfectly shared chocolate and kindness matters. ;)
We brought home some extra kids to break in the game Jake has been writing. He has worked on it for months, sometimes 3-4 hours in one day. Typing his fingers off and reading. He started off asking how to spell a few words here and there. Chan said a couple weeks ago that when she edits it every night, there are fewer mistakes and finally he was down to just one or two words like 'malevolent' and 'excruciating' now and then. Yay! A coherent story with a plot, characters, events, drama, conclusion. Gaming has accomplished more than I ever did with my suggestions and journal starters and years of negotiating writing practice. And he did it all of his own accord.
He was able to sit at the end of the table and be 'dungeon master' while they played through a quest and he could make changes where needed and add notes, it worked well. He needs more kids to play, but it was a good start and camp is coming up!
In all, a top-notch day. Good times with good friends and good food in a beautiful area with some great kids. Here's to 17 more years! :)
