This Post Ends With Something a Little Gross

 Now that we are back home we are doing the whole regular life scene.  Well, not really because Brandon hasn't started teaching yet so we are more in the enjoying summer mode. 

 We had to say goodbye to Cadence who has been Rocky's BFF in the red doors.  I was going to let Elena be in the photo too but she wouldn't stop picking her nose so she only got to show her elbow.  I know that probably sounds rude but I took like 7 pictures.  She had her chance. 

Now since her gal pal has moved Rocky gets to hang out with these jokers and wait to see who else moves in.  Muhammadou has his buddy Samba and his DS so he doesn't really need his frenemy right now.  The upside of this change is that she has learned to ride her bike sans training wheels.  There are times when being alone really ends up being awesome.

 We have been showing up for lunch in the park almost every day.

 They like it because everything comes in a brown bag.  I like it because it is free.  

Tire Swinging with Mac

 We found that Rosy and her dad share more than the same face, they also have similar taste in reading material.

 We partied hard at Aurora's quincenera.  Everything was elegant and so much fun.  Rosy is already starting to plan hers.  Look for an invite in September '28.  I would promise for Rocky and Daisy too but at the rate we are going, and at the rate those things cost we will probably need the the extra 5 years.

 We went out and picked blackberries and this years batch is amazing.  They are incredibly sweet.  The first day that we went out Brandon stayed home to work and I took the girls.  I filled my bowl and then grabbed a second bowl so that I could get a few more and when I came back up the hill the first bowl was empty.  Nobody would confess to the crime but all three of them had purple faces and stained hands.  By the time we got home there were only a few left.
The second time I got smart and brought Brandon.  He is a pretty stellar picker anyway and now we've got a bunch to freeze to give a little bit of summer to our oatmeal on the cold winter mornings that will be here too soon.
Before we left I told them to make sure and dress themselves in appropriate picking attire.  They obviously took the challenge seriously.

 I'm not sure what they thought we would be picking.

 I told Rocky that if she kept that grumpy face she would regret it later when she saw the photo.  When I showed it to her a minute ago she agreed that her face looked silly.  Then she said, "At least I look really good, you know, in the fashion way."  She thinks this outfit is pretty much the shiz.

 Rosy was irritated that she didn't get the berry feast that she and her sisters participated in before. 
While Brandon was picking he kind of let out a yelp.  I ran over to see what was going on and he showed me the biggest and baddest spider I have ever seen.

 I am not a scared-of-spiders type of person and I wouldn't scream or anything like that, but when I saw that spider my heart started beating fast and I got the shivers.  Brandon put his hand up next to it for a photo, which didn't work out but just to give you an idea, the legs stretched the length of his pinky.  Go ahead and look at your own pinky and picture this spider on it, I'll wait. 
FREAKY!
Its body was so fat and round and bright, it truly was beyond description.  There were a bunch of beautiful blackberries right underneath, which is where they remain at this moment because there was no way either of us were going to get any closer to that web.

And as promised, something gross.