???

The girls like to look at the fountain behind this gate when I pick them up from school

I noticed this in the evening light

(I guess I should have dusted, but now I probably never will.)

The Sunday Funny

I was reheating French fries in a skillet.  Dorothy peeked and said, "That's not French cooking."  "What?" I asked.  "Those are French fries," she said.  "They cook them in a French way."

Pool Poof

Merry Christmas in July

The Family Circle Jokes

Brian and Dorothy picked-up a book of The Family Circus cartoons at our neighborhood little library and read it while I was away.  When I came home I picked up the book and asked Dorothy, "The Family Circus...what are these?"  "Circle jokes," she said.

Well at least one posed

Teen Dorothy

The Sunday Funnies

Dorothy sometimes takes advice from others and then lets me in on the knowledge:

(When running):  "Mary Claire said if I move my arms fast it will make my legs run faster."

(After playing with some older girls who were playing soccer):  "The girls told me to kick the ball, run after it, then kick it again..."

(While arranging pom-poms into piles):  "Ms. Candace says you can sort anything."

She also likes to correct us when we misspeak.  Recently, for example, she let us know that cucumbers are not vegetables (they are fruits), and "Captain Hook is not exactly a superhero."

Spot the inchworm

Library magic show volunteer

Cheerios and milk in the mornings

Image Search: Inflatable

Today I used the image search tool in my Google Photos and input the term "inflatable".  These images are among the results that Google identified:

Jessie at Toy Story 4

Brian took Dorothy to see Toy Story 4 this weekend.  She dressed in her Jessie hat, and I asked her if anyone mistook her for the real Jessie.  "No," she said.  "It was dark in there."

The Sunday Funnies

Dorothy's phone wasn't working.  She brought it to me and watched me push a few buttons.  "Oh, right," she said.  "It was in airplane flight mood."

You Tube Kids has a timer and in order to extend the timer you have to answer a multiplication fact.  Dorothy had been watching her phone for much longer than I had set the timer.  I asked her how.  She answered, "First I asked you, then I asked my daddy, then I counted on my fingers."

Something we read mentioned the initials "FFC".  "What does that say?" Dorothy asked.  "I don't know," I told her.  "Just try," she said.  "Sound it out."

I looked at my birthday list on July 11.  "Today is your great-granny's birthday," I said.  "That's Granny Annie."  Dorothy smiled.  Then I picked up my phone to text our cousin Natalie who also celebrates on July 11.  I spoke into the phone, "Happy birthday!"  Dorothy looked at me with wide eyes and said, "Wait...is she still alive?"

Friday playin'

French girl for international parade at school

Petting Baby Sally

Dorothy draws our family again and again...and again

Vacation Photos!

We enjoyed a whole week in the Middle America over the Fourth of July, packing mostly red, white, and blue clothes.

We bookended our trip with Brian's college roomate and his family (Dan, Cara, Brady, & Ellie) in Denver, and also visited with Dan's parents.

For five days and four nights we stayed in Spearfish Canyon Lodge on the western edge of South Dakota, and mini-hiked with Sarah's college roommate, Julia, who lives in the Black Hills.

We daytripped to Mount Rushmore (Rapid City, SD), Devils Tower (Wyoming), and Deadwood, SD.

We were a group of 13:  Brian, Sarah, and Dorothy Jane; Brian's parents (Marilyn & Chuck); Brian's brother and family (Matt, Katie, Erik, & Ellie); and Katie's family (mother Lynn, aunt Sharon, father Mike, and brother Dave).

Here is a photo explosion!