Outdoor Movie Nite



Another fun thing we did this summer was watch a movie in the dark outdoors. My in-laws have a giant screen they hang from their 2nd story deck and we can project movies onto it. We have enjoyed a couple of movie nights out on the lawn enjoying the cool of the evening after a hot day!

All camped out and ready for the movie! My kids believe in bringing along the comforts of home!



I found these popcorn bags at the dollar store and just had to get them as a fun addition to our outdoor movie night!

Summer Cookout

Josh was away the entire month of August. I was always looking for fun things to do to keep us all occupied and busy. One night we built a small fire ring and roasted some hot dogs for dinner. It was a lovely break for me because all the mess was outside and we used paper plates!

The girls enjoying a summer evening hot dog roast!

Now this is the life!



Nathan took a few minutes away from his book to have something to eat!

 



Icecream cones for dessert. What more can you ask for in a summer cookout?



Nevada County Fair

We enjoyed our trip to the Nevada County Fair this year. The weather was cool and pleasant and made it very enjoyable. We all entered many things in the Fair. We had around 50 entries in the agriculture dept. alone.

All 10 Dickey cousins together at the Fair. (Yes, two were napping and Nathan was doing something else). We enjoyed taking all the kids to the Fair on "Kids Day"


 

Juliana has waited for 3 years to be tall enough to go on the Ferris Wheel! She was so delighted to be able to ride this year

Nathan's prize winning sweet corn



Nathan's tomato entry. We had lovely tomatoes around Fair time this year!

We even had a pumpkin ready and Nathan did well!

Nathan's greenbeans took Best of Division!!

  

Peter's pencil drawing

Juliana's Dress

Juliana's Apron

Christina's Favorite entry!



 





Katherine's first ride on the carousel! She loved it! She told me for days after she wanted to go to the Fair and "see pretty horses!"



Harvest

This year's harvest has been amazingly abundant. The weather cooperated in a way we haven't seen in years. All our fruit trees were so heavy with fruit (even after thinning) that we had to prop up branches. Here are a few highlights from the harvest this year!

We grew a few unusual items this year thanks to our package of free seeds for our school. Here is the red/purple okra we grew. Obviously the judges at the county Fair liked it too!

We had a wonderful fruit harvest this year as well! These nectarines were amazing!

Some gorgeous Ramey Ranch nectarines as well!

Some very unusual tomatoes we grew this summer. The yellow ones are fully ripe and are a tangerine orange (hence the name "Tangerine".) The green striped ones are also ripe and have a little bit of a tangy taste. The red one is just "gnarly" and there isn't much else to say about it!

With so much abundance of fruit and veggies, we've been very busy preserving as much as possible for winter. Here the girls are helping me make some peach jam.

 

More unusual foods! These lovely dark purple beans add a dash of color to the meal. The kids thought they were magic beans because they turn a normal green color when cooked. Tasty, though!

Enjoying a breakfast on the deck. It was build your own yogurt parfait day! We had tons of luscious fruits to put on our yogurt, but the whipped cream won out as the favorite topping!

Summer Fun!

We had a fun summer! The kids and I enjoyed the change of pace from our daily school routine. Here are a few fun things we did.

I found the girls lying on the deck one afternoon eating their lunch! I guess this is how California girls eat lunch?

We are blessed to pick blackberries at our neighbor's property. This year we challenged the older ones to a blackberry picking competition and had a "weigh in" when we were finished. Juliana undertook the task of teaching Kate all about blackberry picking. She showed Kate which berries tasted good (pick the black ones) and how to put them in your bucket. So sweet!

Of course, this is the best part of blackberry picking!

On July 7 we had two birthday girls in our house. My long-time friend, Katrina, was here to visit and so we celebrated her birthday and Juliana's birthday! And yes, Juliana wore her princess dress to church that day!

All ready for church!

Celebrating Independence Day with a small parade in Chicago Park!

We had an unexpected rain in June. Katherine had fun learning about umbrellas!

Kate loves to come and help in the kitchen. She was so proud to add her chopped broccoli to the pan. It is a little hard to cut broccoli with a table knife, but she managed just fine.

Taking her job so seriously!

Kid's Rooms Makeover

School's out for the season at Pioneer Christian School and I decided to tackle some majo pojects this summer. One of them was some painting. Most of the house hasn't been painted since we moved in 10 years ago, so it was due for a fresh coat!



We chose a lavender for the girls' room to go with their new bedspreads. It is very nice and peaceful in their room.

I also installed the rain gutter shelves you can see here next to the beds. This gives each child a place for personal items like flashlights, books, small animals, and who knows what else!

We painted the boys' room a khaki color with white trim. It is a little darker than shown here in the pictures, and very fresh and masculine. It looks very nice with the denim spreads I made for their beds a few years ago.

Their room isn't generally this orderly. I took these pictures to remind them how a clean room should look! 

Garden in June

The garden is growing! Here are my tomatoes nearly filling the cages and in full bloom!

At the end of June we were blessed with all these greenbeans from my parents' garden! They canned up nicely and will keep us eating delicious vegetables all winter. The girls enjoyed helping to stem the beans in preparation for canning.