Gaia

6-Year-Old Stares Down Bottomless Abyss of Formal Schooling

(shamelessly lifted from my little sister's blog.)

I've mentioned before that we're not always a very well-behaved family. I've got some evidence of that from our camping trip. I've gone back and forth on whether to post it here, but it does make me laugh and as the sign at the campground said



I'll start with some of the more benign stories to give anyone who'd rather avoid what I can only describe as mushroompr0n a chance to avoid scrolling down and seeing the more shocking photos.

So, we went camping with our usual camping crew.



We tried out a new campground this year, where we were excited to see we had our choice of boats for an afternoon on the lake. The Coxsways went with a paddleboat



while we chose a rowboat, rowed very expertly by Rowan the rower.



There were wild blueberries growing all over the place. Jon couldn't seem to get enough of them.



All very wholesome so far, no?

Those Coxsways are a bad influence, though. Before I knew it someone (ok, it may have been one of my children) had suggested that a few someones should combine all the explosive material that could be found in some 4th of July poppers and cracklers and sparklers and see what kind of a bang they could come up with.





I'm happy to report that no forest fires were started and no fingers were lost.



Ok, fair warning, I'm moving on to the mushrooms. I'm going to start with some nice, pretty, inoffensive mushrooms. If you think you may be offended by the 'other' mushroom, now's your chance to run away.

So, during our stay we noticed a variety of mushrooms. There was a pretty mushroom that looked to me like a fairy house



and there was a purple mushroom


and then there was the mushroom we noticed within a minute of getting out of our car.



Are you ready for it?



I cannot begin to tell you the fun I had with this mushroom. Wait, that doesn't sound good. I'll rephrase. I cannot begin to tell you the fun I had photographing this mushroom. Jon was, of course, an enthusiastic model



but the mushroompr0n prize must be awarded to Tim, who can always be counted on to join me at whatever level I might stoop to.




Unfortunately, it all ended in a messy accident.



I think the blood's a nice touch. I'm not naming any names, but credit for that goes to the kid who didn't have the idea about the explosives.

I'm so proud.

We came back from camping to the news that my dad (aka grampathecandyman), who was recovering from hip replacement surgery, was having trouble breathing. He had developed pneumonia and other complications. I spent the week at the hospital with my mom, my brother, my three sisters, and apparently many more relatives than they're used to seeing in the ICU waiting room.

He came off the respirator Saturday and went straight back to charming the nurses.




As Dagny used to say, my skin is full of love.

An award for me and look how pretty! Muy bonita. Karen says este blog premia el arte y la creatividad. Well, maybe she'd say that if she spoke Spanish.

I suspect that in bestowing this award she may just be trying to ensure that I continue to give her pictures of her baby, cookies, and habanero peach preserves. Like she could stop me if she tried.




Here are the rules for this award.

1) You must pick 5 blogs that you consider deserving of this award, based upon creativity, design, interesting material, and that also contribute to the blogger community.

2) Each award must have the name of the author with a link to his or her blog to be visited by everyone.

3) Award-winners must show the award and put the name and link to the blog that awarded it.

4) Award-winners and the one who has given the prize must show the link to the Arte y Pico blog, so everyone will know the origin of this award.

5) These rules must be included in your post.

I must, must I? All righty then. Here we go:

1) If there's something prettier than the colors on Jane Brocket's blog I've never seen it. I have no idea when or where or how I found this blog, but I love it. She writes about flowers, knitting, quilting, and food. And she takes amazing pictures. What's not to love?

2) Julie Persons. Art, photography, kids. All good. She is one amazingly talented mom.

3) Soulemama's another super-talented mom. More great photography, craftiness, and kids.

4) Metafilter's a community blog, so I don't know if it counts. I find all sorts of interesting things there, though.

5) Damn, peoples, this is taking way too long and I've gotta go camping. If you think your blog should be number 5, say so in my comments. When I get back I'll pick my fave.

I've kind of lost my camera. Oh, I know where it is. But it's not in its old spot, it's in its new spot. Dagny's room. I think it's probably much happier there, with someone who knows about white balance and actually turns the little knobs and pushes the little buttons.



Dagny did her first solo photo shoot, for Julian. I don't have any of the pictures on my computer, but she did a great job capturing his thoughtful musician self, and also took some pictures of his very cool jewelry.

How many of the 100 most common English words can you come up with in five minutes? I only got 34. I was most surprised to see that 'why' isn't on the top 100.