More Summer Fun . . .

. . . because it's been that long since I've posted pictures. :P

I cut up this tomato in July and the color was amazing. It was so juicy and beautiful and very, very delicious. We've been pretty much picking our lunch out of our garden all summer.

My little laundry helper :)

I couldn't resist this picture.

While I hung laundry (which I love to do), these guys helped shuck corn. We got several dozen ears of corn from our good friends and so we shucked and blanched and cut and froze a whole bunch! Our freezer and pantry are filling up with fruit and veggies! And soon, we're getting PORK MEAT, too! Our friends who have a farm are raising pigs and we're going in on one with them and getting half a hog! We've done this before and I'm so excited--it's usually cheaper and whether or not it is, it tastes so much better and you know where it comes from.

Nature Hike

Our awesome homeschool group enjoys nature hikes several times a year--we got to play some great games, take some hikes, play in the water, and have some quiet, reflective time. Gorgeous place!

Gardening

BeatleMania
This was a blast! We attended a fabulous open-air amphitheater concert put on by this wonderful group--they used no recordings; it was all live! They used over 20 guitars to replicate the sound of the Beatles and they do all of their mannerisms, from the way Paul sings to the way John Lennon and George stand to Ringo's wave to the audience. It was fabulous! The kids are on a TOTAL Beatles kick and we've enjoyed reading about them all in prep for the concert. Thing 2 especially loves to sit and listen to the entire Beatles "1" Album and can often be found rocking out in his room putting on quite a show (when he doesn't know we're listening at the door). Very entertaining!

Be sure to look at all the pictures--you can see how the guys switched their costumes to show the progression of the Beatles' style. (And there are a couple of us in there, too). The screen behind them showed Beatles footage as well as events current to the time they're singing. Great show!

So, the day after Beatlemania, what do you do? Imitate what you've seen! (Our children do this ALL the time--they love to imitate fun stuff like this--Olympics, something we've read, concerts, etc.). Here they are as The Beatles singing . . . Back in the USSR! (Notice the makeshift electric guitar--hooked into a massage chair thingy and the makeshift drumset. Oh and the costumes!). :P

Our Freakishly Cool Carrots

The Symphony

The orchestra

The music-identifying kids

Okay, so, same theater. Next night (what can we say--it was a great concert series and cheap tickets, so we attended two on two nights in a row!), we attended the Hershey Symphony. It was SO much fun. They played a lot of movie theme stuff and American music and at one point played the theme from every branch of the military while people in the audience stood to be honored--it was great fun! And very, very comfortable and lively!

My favorite part of the evening was when the conductor (who kept talking to us--the feel was more like a jazz concert . . . not stuffy at all) talked about John Williams and all of his recognizable movie music and said the orchestra was about to play a medley of his songs from 5 different movies and wanted to know if we could identify every movie from the music they played. He then started with the most obvious--Deh Neh! Neh neh neh, NEH Neh. Neh neh neh, NEH Neh . . . so of course (I mean, c'mon, the conductor asked!), Thing 2 raises his hand, jumps halfway out of his seat, while yelling fairly loudly and very excitedly, "Oooh! Star Wars!!"

My eyes wide, I quickly put my arm around him and tried to let him know we don't call out like that and praise him for his good work identifying the song at the same time. He pretty much figured out himself (since no one else was calling out answers) that you don't do that and I didn't want to make him feel badly because he was SO excited and that's not even his nature to call out like that (he was THAT excited) so I tread lightly. He doesn't show easily how sensitive he is (he plays everything cool), but I could see it in his eyes, so I didn't want to squelch his excitement and pride for a job well done. He thought the conductor meant for us to call out answers. What a cutie. Everyone behind us got a good chuckle out of it as did Mark and I. (The other songs, by the way, were Jaws, Indiana Jones, Harry Potter, and Superman). :)