{p,h,f,r} Photos that Encourage Checking a Loved One for Ticks

There’s flies in the kitchen, vegetables rotting in the garden and muddy handprints in/on/around the bathroom sink; summer’s here! It’s the time of year I can no longer hide my hairy legs under knee-highs or an ankle length skirt.

The whole family has been living outside the past week or so, sleeping under the stars, eating on the deck, manhandling the new chickens; all sorts of good wholesome country living. Fulton’s been in his glory, sitting in our front yard watching the dump trucks and backhoes at a local construction site work for hours. And the truck drivers never tire of waving or honking as they drive by, which seems to always coincide with Teddy’s nap time.  I single-handedly set up our swimming pool while Tony focused on kitchen projects. Unfortunately, the pool’s instructions showed the pool being assembled by two smiling women in bikinis in “approximately 45-60 minutes” and as my bikini is not coming out of retirement and no sexy friends showed up to help, I trudged along for about two and a half hours over two days to get the thing together. When the kids weren’t asking me “Canwegoswimmingyet?Canwegoswimmingyet?Canwegoswimmingyet?” the older three constructed a tent on my laundry line, which they promptly decided to sleep in, until 5:45 a.m. the next morning when the sun came up. We also spent a day at the beach where Teddy basically ate sand for two hours; but boy was he content and quiet for that whole time. Even when he threw sand right in his own eyes he laughed.

I love seeing the kids enjoy the great weather so much. My favorite childhood memories are of running around my backyard with my sister, neighbors and cousins. Sure we’ve had lots of cuts, bruises, ticks, bug bites and the like to deal with and the stains in the laundry, good grief!, but I can’t imagine watching my kids waste away in clean clothes in front of a video console for hours in a perfectly chilled 68 degree house. This week, I tried to capture some of these fleeting summer moments, although you’ll just have to imagine Teddy covered in sand, Edie with ticks in her and her doll’s hair and me and my hairy knees cursing my way through pool construction.

{pretty}

 

{happy}

We got some barred rock chicks and they are just so beautiful. If salt and pepper hair would look as good as these bird’s feathers, women wouldn’t feel the need to dye their tresses. They’re also a bit friendlier than our Rhode Island Reds. And by a bit friendlier I mean they don’t peck us mercilessly or refuse to be held.

 

{funny}

So here’s some of my nice clean sheets in use as a tent, helping the kids “make memories” and what not. I had to laugh when Byron said, “And you know the best part?! The tent is handicap accessible!” Yes, around here, even when we’re having fun, we’re ADA compliant.

 

{real}

And here they are, all hunkered down for the night. A real camp out if ever I saw one. It was actually chilly which is why they’re dressed for a Siberian summer. We did allow them a lantern and we left the back porch light on, fully expecting them to pack it in by 10, but only Addie came in to warn us about barking dogs and a banging noise before passing out by 11.

If you’re not too busy creating summer memories of your own, be sure to head over to Like Mother, Like Daughter for more {p,h,f,r} photos.