Grandad our hero! We came home and found Grandad and his friend, Mr. Harry, chainsawing all the many trees that were blocking our path to the treeforts.  Hurray!  Let the rebuilding of the treeforts begin!  Haha

 When I come home in the afternoon, I am greeted by the turkeys and ducks.  The ducks were just outside the picture.  I'm not sure yet if I should feel loved or not.

 For dinner tonight, Maggie and Lizzie made butternut gnocchi.  It was so delicious.  We also had fresh mustard greens from our garden.

 Today my children took advantage of the beautiful weather and drove to Calvert County to the Calvert Cliffs State Park.  (Some of you may know this as the tire park since it uses many tires in the play area.)

 My five youngest went.  The park has a trail leading out to the Patuxent River.  It's 1.8 miles out and 1.8 miles back.  A beautiful walk on a day like today!

 Anna found a shark's tooth in perfect condition.  Lots of fossils.

 The cliffs part of the beach has been off limits for years because of cave-ins and falling trees.  That doesn't stop most people from going around the barrier ribbon.   

  I wouldn't be surprised if this tree fell over during Hurricane Irene.   

They had a nice picnic of hummus and celery, and chicken salad sandwiches.  Everyone came home full of smiles and memories...my favorite kind of day.

A few weeks ago I found out that we'd been eating cow's cheese thanks to a misunderstanding with the amish seller.  The good thing is that Ruthie was barely affected...and she usually ends up in the hospital.  I, on the other hand, have been suffering much more than usual and have kept as close to home as possible.  I am finally on the mend...but you can imagine I am re-reading every label of anything I eat!  Unfortunately, the exposure has sapped my energy...the main reason I haven't been posting.  My other four children are mildly hurting...but we're all consuming sudafed, nyquil, nosedrops, mullein, etc. 

So once again I will be playing catchup with my pictures of the county fairs and another picnic.  We are busy as always but thankful. 

Many blessings ~ Kathie