rain, sparkle, love

we had a small gathering on the fourth to say farewell-for-now to a dear, dear friend who has gone away for several weeks.  there was way too much food, just the right amount of people (illustrated nicely by the fact that it only took one trip to get all the food inside when the rain came!), a perfect amount of sangria to quench everyone's thirst and have a bit for me to sip on for the past two days, lots of children running around in the rain, and some sparkler fun.  it was one of those get togethers that had all of us saying we really, really (really, this time, I'm not kidding folks) needed to keep it up and rotate houses and all get together at least once a month.  good intentions.  wouldn't it be magic if we could see it through and make it happen?

after the party we three hopped on the bikes and rode down to town to watch the fireworks.  a tired ride home and a late bedtime lead to much dragging of feet the following morning.  tea, yogurt topped with leftover peach-blackberry cobbler, a tea party for two thrown by my sweet girl (papa was at work).  we eventually got out of pajamas and headed over for a riding lesson, some chatting, and some gardening at a friend's house.  it's possible leftover sangria came along, too.

(I promise papa was super careful with that propane torch up there.... and all of the parents seemed to trust that he knew what he was doing.  he is a real live firefighter, after all)