Whether the weather is cold, or whether the weather is not...

Mmmm....I can't wait for the autumn and winter! The present break from the heat belies the fact that despite the best of August's scorching temperatures, the fall will come before too long...I can't wait for the time for rambles in the quiet woods...

Visiting the Maidenhair Mirror....

Seeing the ethereal blue of the sky uncrowded by leaves...

Look! I really think that's frost! FROST? Yes, summer. Frost is coming, and I'm waiting with open arms... :)

Benjamin and Sarah accompanied me this trip into the woods. :)
I cannot take credit for any of these pictures. I believe they are all Sarah's. :)

The haunting beauty of the Maidenhair Mirror is unrivalled. :) See the dark moss on the bottoms of the trunks?
That's where the water comes up in the wet season. :) And all that brush around the edge? In the summertime (I haven't had time to visit it this summer. :[ ) That's all waist-high maiden-hair ferns! :)

Me and Benjamin in a "friendship tree" :) *smiles at Abigail Taylor*

Pine trees! Gotta love our Virginian woods. We just can't get rid of them. :P

Doth my eyes deceive me, or is that the White Tree of Gondor? ;)
No, it's just one of the prettiest fields on our road. :)

And another view of the same field... I like to think it looks rather BBC-ish...I wish I could show you a full view of it all.
It's rather one of my favorite walking spots.

So there you have it: My longing for the cold weather presented in only a few pictures. It might be unseasonable, but summer has had her reign. I'm looking forward to cute jackets and skirts with boots, pumpkin bread and hot cups of tea. Oh yes. It's coming.
~Rachel

Candid Shots- family pictures, large-family style :)

For some people, the most cherished family pictures are the ones that show them to advantage...the ones that capture the adorable moments in the lives of their children, and where everybody has a clean face, clean clothes, and everyone's smiling.

But I love to look at the not-so-good pictures and find the funny, large-family moments therein :) I don't recall a single "this is our family" picture that we would dare send anyone who didn't already love us! ;)

A candid picture of my dear Abby with the garden hose in her mouth...and yes...this is an everyday, and usually multiple-times-a-day
happening :)

Gracie in a wild get-up. This too is merely a sampling of her typical dress-up outfit, and her typical face when she wants us to laugh at her....

The cousins provide plenty of funny shots too- Bekah obviously enjoyed her....whatever it was she had been eating! :P

Umm....I'm pretty sure Benj and Abby just got the news that the South lost the War. :P

I don't always have the most well-behaved subjects when I preside over the tea-table ;)

The little ones took their responsibility to bury the poor lame chick rather "gravely" :P Ahem.
So what do you think? Aren't these more fun that the usual family pictures? :)
~Rachel