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Friday, July 25, 2014

Ordinary Days and our Fourth of July




"After all,' Anne said to Marilla once, "I believe the nicest and sweetest days are not those on which anything very splendid or wonderful or exciting happens but just those that bring simple little pleasures, following one another softly, like pearls slipping off a string."
Anne of Avonlea
Lucy Maud Montogomery
 
 




 
These are ordinary days. Ordinary summer days... when we spend a lot of time out in our yard, playing in the sandbox, walking up and down our road between our house and "the farm", playing at the park, and doing a whole lot of just living. Whenever we go somewhere or do something really fun, I end up with hundreds of photos from the day or event. I love to capture the essence of an adventure or a feeling in photographs, but it takes a lot of photos to really tell the story, and honestly, I don't have a lot of time for pulling the story together at the end of the day for sharing. I still take a lot of pictures because I do want to recount some of these experiences for the kids when they're older and they don't remember.
 
However, Sarah at Memories on Clover Lane is always reminding me to really appreciate the ordinary days, to live in the moments and soak up the ordinary.
 
Jenny's Story reminds me how quickly the years go by and how precious these summer days with my kids are. We've been having lots of fun this summer, but mostly, we've been living in the ordinary. It's good. It's front-porch sitting, cold beer drinking, sparklers at dusk, bug spray and sunscreen, kiddie pools and playtime with cousins.
 
 
Addison watches the farm cats from her perch on
the bench next to the old dairy barn.
 

Playing in the grass next to the barn.
 
 
Walking in the park with Grandpa Jennings on Fourth of July.
We drove down along the Mississippi and enjoyed a picnic at
one of the beautiful bluff-top parks overlooking the town of Red Wing, MN.
 

 
 The granary on the farm got a fresh coat of paint last year.
 

My handsome boys

 
There's nothing like a sweet, juicy summer peach on a hot day!
 
 
Celebrating Fourth of July with Grandma and Grandpa Jennings, high above the mighty Mississippi up on top of the river bluffs.
 
 
 
 Farm cats, farm cats, everywhere.
This little princess has a litter of kittens that are about 7 weeks old
and Gavin has been preparing to bring one down the road to our house.
He has a place all set up for it and has even made
pipe-cleaner toys for it.   
 

 Feeding Grandma's chickens at the farm.
 
 
 
Pretty chickens, even if they're a little blurry.
 


My beautiful disastrous neglected wildflower garden. One of my
favorite views even though it's full of elm trees, burdock, and foxtail grass.
 
 
Far taller than knee-high
on this beautiful Fourth of July!
 
 
So glad our corn is looking so good!
 

Gavin brought the wagon up to the farm to pick up the kitty crate so he can start preparing a safe place for a new kitty.


TRYING to pull Dad down the road.



 
The kids took this job very seriously and scrubbed and hosed
down that kitty crate with great determination. 


Kids were feeling a little under the weather this Fourth of July, and we
really enjoyed this lower-key way of celebrating with a
small picnic at the park and some sparklers in our front yard.



 
LOVE these ordinary days.
 
 


 
 

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Gorgeous pictures!! They are anything but "ordinary." You are a very talented photographer!!!!