Saturday

My dad called this morning to ask if my descendants and I would like to go for a hike.  The descendants declined, but I thought it was much too pretty a day to turn down a hike! And a picnic!  So I did a quick bit of laundry & cleaning, left detailed instructions for how to deal with the bread, and left my crew to amuse themselves (which they are quite willing and able to do on a Saturday morning.  In fact, some of them might have been secretly pleased to see me go, since I had been making obnoxious comments about grammar tests still needing to be taken.).
And we had a lovely time!  My mom packed an Excellent lunch (the blueberry crumbcake was particularly nice), and the weather was beautiful for our walk.

(My dad is standing in front of a sign which states that the fence is there to keep enthusiastic sightseers from climbing onto the slippery rocks in the stream and being swept to a gory death over the 200 foot waterfall.  We got there just as a family was watching their teenage daughter and schnauzer go over the fence to get a drink.  Neither was swept to a gory death but still... what dopes!)

And then we went home and I had a go at getting a picture of the children suitable for Christmas cards.  
Sigh...