Huntington Park, Stormfield, and 11 years

We have had the privilege of visiting both Huntington Park and Stormfield over the last couple of Sundays, and it has been wonderful.
Last week we headed to Huntington Park on a whim, having never been there before. We were dressed and ready for church, but seeing as how it didn't start until 2pm, we wanted to go on a walk. It was absolutely gorgeous. It was just too perfect and picturesque, that we turned it into an impromptu photo shoot - some of the pics were posted on Facebook already.

Today we were invited (along with many others) to Stormfield, the location of Mark Twain's last home, and where he passed away, for a musical gathering at our neighbors house. It is technically "next door" to us, but requires a 5 - 10 minute walk (reeeeeeally long driveway). The invitation made the whole thing seem pretty casual with phrases like, "bring your kazoos and leave your inhibitions". My girls practiced songs they could sing and brought drums and shakers, but it wasn't really that sort of a gathering. They were not, however, disappointed because there were games, things to eat, hills to roll down, friends to make, etc. I was blown away at the whole thing. Advent Creative's Ben Zurcher got to join us as he is staying with us for a couple of weeks for Advent related things. Viv's mouth was full of food in the following photo, but I made her smile...

In other news, we celebrated eleven years of marriage on the 17th. That is just crazy. We were lucky enough to drop our kids off at a friend's house (Jackie and Eddie - Thank you!), who happen to live on the water, and who happen to own kayaks. So, after we dropped off the kids, we hopped into a double kayak and began rowing across the way until we made it to the other side at a restaurant. Lunch was lovely. We only had to row for about 15 minutes each way. It was a lot of fun. Plus, Ru made this card for us all be herself! "Happy Anniversary Day. I love you!" Adorable.

Also, we've pulled out a few more ticks. So far no Lyme.

Finally, the girls have spent hours creating fairy houses in hopes that real fairies will come visit. This is just the inside of one of them. Wish you could see some of the details. They are gems.