chez les parents de K

More dogs and flowers, to be certain. (Just wait until we have children!)

The family deK has a child's wading pool on their back patio, and Penelope flung herself into it with much abandon. I remember last summer, when we went to my grandparents' house in Michigan and how I had to toss her into the lake to get her to swim around. Now, you cannot keep her from pretending the water is a more still object, something she can pounce on and snuff up with her nose into the air.







Their yard was rife with blossoms, a single white peony and other blooms. I think I bask in flowers so much, not only because they are wonderful close-up subjects, but also because I won't see so many flowers when winter comes. A true Minnesotan really enjoys her flowers when she can, as well as her green landscape. In a few short months, all will be white, then dingy with the grit of sand and road salt.












There were a total of six dogs this weekend, but only four at a time. At deK's house, we saw Sassy and Chance, both still in the cusp of puppydom, though long outgrown from their puppy bodies. Our own young dogs romped a great deal, though Chance was not allowed to run in a line that was not straight (try telling that to a dog). Chance is the big dog, the mastiff-lab mix, whose jowls remind us of Zephyr's in a very frightening way (but Z probably won't grow much more... right?). Sassy is the little lab mix who is incredible at catching a tennis ball. Our own dogs are incredible at running, Penelope so good at strange jumps with little judo kicks, but not so incredible at catching, and even less incredible at returning the ball to be thrown again.












Beyond a second strand of pearls, K's mother gave me a great gift this weekend: she addressed our invitations in her precise calligraphy. It took hours but I did not hear one sound of frustration, annoyance, or fatigue. Well, laughing about it, but not irritation. They turned out beautiful, little works of art in the mail. Today's task is to organize them: city and zip code. (And country, as four will be traveling across the ocean to England, France, Moldova, and Germany.)







I will return again, with snippets from my parents' house (deS, I suppose). So many photos to filter through.

It was a good weekend: my parents came to the house deK and we had burgers and beer, spoke of the failures in the education system and James' first use of the word "yes" (in response to his mother saying "no" to the ice cream he was trying to grab).