Lately...

Summer is moving by quickly and we've been enjoying it. The kids "unpack their backpacks" at school tonight and then start on Monday. Jake has been back to work at his new job as a high school principal for the last few weeks. Unfortunately, I dropped my camera and broke the lens. I also have a broken iPhone camera, so photos have been limited to an old iPhone that only turns on occasionally and Jake's phone. Oh well. Here's a glimpse at what we've been up to!

Back-to-school shopping, course:

We celebrated Jake's dad's birthday with dinner at our place. His kids all chipped in and got he and Jake's mom a hot air balloon ride for his birthday. Eli and I decided it would be fun to make a hot air balloon birthday cake to celebrate. Here's what he came up with, with a little guidance from moi.

We enjoyed a reggae festival last weekend. The weather was gorgeous and there was face painting. Below is our very serious vampire and a phoenix holding his sweet baby cousin. 

A few weeks ago we spent an evening at the Mississippi Valley Fair.

The food! Oh my goodness do I love this time of year. Not only do we visit the farmers' markets, but there are farm stands everywhere (Eli is pictured below at our favorite — Magnolia Crest) and our garden is actually doing pretty well. Glorious!

Last week we made a trip to Miss Effie's Flower Farm. The boys each picked their own bouquet. Sinta was less interested in the flowers and more interested in the kitties.

And that's that! Perhaps I'll get back into the swing of blogging one of these days...

Until then, enjoy these final days of summer!