Bugs and Bluegrass

We were blessed with beautiful weather today - clear blue skies and no humidity. Although the sun was strong (I got a bit sunburned), the house stayed cool without air conditioning. We went to the gardens this morning to see the "Bug Idol" puppet show. Nora really enjoyed it, except for the part when a Venus flytrap came out and ate the mean slug judge (cleverly named "Slimin' Scowl"). Caroline didn't seem to care; she was having far too much fun sucking on my camera bag strap. We stayed in the gardens for a while and played with new friends we made at the library earlier this week, then left to pick up our latest installment of fresh veggies from the Farmer's Market and came home. After having mixed success with naps (Caroline yes, Nora no), we headed back out the door around 5 with Monica and her boys, mom, and brother, to walk over to the shopping area near our house, where there was a free bluegrass concert from 5-7. I made a chicken/spinach/mozzarella quesadilla for Nora (with leftover chicken from our bbq on Monday), a mozzarella/tomato/basil sandwich for myself (with a tomato from the Farmer's Market and basil from our garden), and even brought along some cooked fresh snap beans (also from the Market). I was so pleased with the way it all turned out! Caroline ate before we left (p.s. she loves tofu), but that didn't stop her from downing a bottle of watered down apple juice and fruit puffs. Once that was done, she tried her luck with the pretzel bag (the results are in the photo).


We all enjoyed listening to the music, spending ime together and feeling connected to our community. And it was especially fun watching Nora, Thomas and Zach run around. Why run on soft grass like all the other kids when you can race barefoot on hard concrete with yellow "CAUTION" tape in front of it? Our walk home took quite a while, after Nora and Thomas decided to walk on the fence in front of ODU, counting each post as they went along (see photo). Monica and I humored them for a while, but then I transformed myself into the "Fence Tickle Monster" and told them they had to get off my fence or pay the tickle penalty. Worked like a charm. heh heh heh. Now if only I could use that to get Nora to nap!!!