And, though it started with a big pile of 'TO-DO-s' looming just in front of my morning coffee, - my good senses rightly won over, and this overwhelmed calendar was abruptly closed in favor of ... Oooh, so much more.
Rainy though it may have been, - our weekending was spent wonderfully free... and without a blink, we filled it right on up - with things we all love to do... 'making' and 'meandering' both individually and together, - 'Whole Family' as my Joe so appropriately calls it.
"... And you SHALL call MEEEEEEEEEEEEE, ...... Bob Dylan."
Bob Dylan?
"The Hunter," sure. This was the proclamation of Henry, my fully-invested one, upon donning his much-anticipated Robin Hood Costume. "The Hunter." OK, sure.
But,...... "Bob Dylan"? To be sure, - announcing his new incarnation right on the heels of Henry's grandly enthusiastic declaration, my little Joe's choice of moniker seemed...... welllllll..... I'll just say it: PERFECT.
You can't harness conviction, right? ... And, maybe, sometimes... it's more about the fanfare, than anything else AT ALL. Agreed?
Oh, How I Love. These. Boys.
A couple of months ago my wild ones saw the old Robin Hood cartoon movie... and they were hooked,... their little hearts resolutely purposed upon one clear goal: Halloween Costumes.
(Really, I mean, really... I don't think anyone can resist Roger Miller singing "Oo-De-Lally" - without getting hooked, - it's just TOO cute.)
Since the declaration was made many weeks prior to the great dress-up event, we thought we'd have plenty of time to convince little Joe to take on the role of "Little John" (the great bear side-kick).... but, as you can imagine, - Joseph Dennis WOULD NOT be contained to such a minor role, - and insisted on being the equally-important title character: Robin Hood.
So, - One evening, 5 yards of felt, a little bit of orange faux fur, a few feathers, and - "ta-daaa" - Robin Hood, and Little Robin Hood were born. (I will, for now, gently dismiss the great-big-ol-can-o-morally-confusing-worms the story did present, however... we'll see to that one, another day.)
NOW, - the true spirit of the costumes could not be fully realized until my good little thieve's dear daddy completed the all-important, much-discussed, - bows and arrows.
(Bravo, Danny - Bravo.)
We barely got the quivers 'round their arms, - and they. were. off.
For the last couple years, Ol' Fall has rushed through and passed me right on by, with hardly an exhale. I know this happens largely because I hold on - so desperately - to Summer... and, probably, of course, because this season seems to becomes a big, stumbling trip, of back-to-school, and prepare-for-rain, and pumpkin-patches, and can't-find-the-galoshes, and Halloween-costumes, and hurry-up-and-do-something-with-those-tomatoes-!
But NO, not this year. I mean, yes, of course... all those dear-Autumn-I'm-dizzy things are still part of the push... but THIS YEAR, I promised my boys we'd go apple-picking. Doesn't that sound... so... Aautumnal?
Well... OH. MY. GOSH..., was it worth it... full of lots of praise for my "Great Idea, MOM!!!" from Henry, and the adoption of a new Joe-inspired family mantra, "It's-another-golden-delicious!!... It's-ANOTHER-golden-delicious!!!... IT'S ANOTHER GOLDEN DELICIOUS!!!!!" - The surprise, and thrill, and pure 2-year-old-GLEE flooding out of each. and. every. word. (ok, - just so we're clear, - that's not a golden delicious!).
So we visited Apple-a-Day Ratzlaff Ranch in Sebastopol, on a warm Friday morning, while my good ol' pal from Colorado was visiting (thanks for coming, - Fatima). It was really just a spur-of-the-moment choice, as we googled 'Sonoma County Apple Picking' first thing in the morning, but it turned out to be just the right place.
The orchard's 3rd generation farmer, Ken Ratzlaff (yes, - that's him... getting the scale ready to weigh our 38 lbs (!!!) of apples) was incredibly generous with his time, giving us a private tour of his family's cider-making equipment ("Like Pure Sugar!!!!" - noted Henry, upon cider taste-testing.) .... We'll definitely have Farmer Ken's cider on our grocery list from now on (It's available at Whole Foods throughout California and Washington in the refrigerated section... just in case... you're interested - and, oooooh, - you SHOULD be.)
So for now, our fridge, and our pantry are FULL, - albeit only with apples. Fortunately, apples can wait - so I'll have a little time to start sewing the boy's halloween costumes before we begin the "Big Applesauce Making Marathon of 2009".
Just look at that sky. Can you feel the sun? OOOOH, perfect days. Gone to the water, south of Santa Cruz, this past weekend - Henry, Joe, and their favorite peoples... Daddy, and Mammy, and... well, yes, - my boys still love their Mama.
I KNOW. Is there anything better? After days of rain, big rain here in Northern California (rain we ABSOLUTELY needed, and I am absolutely grateful for)... that warm sun came out smiling, and we all felt ... giddy, really... with this one more weekend of summer. (We love you too, Fall... but can you blame us, really?)
Mammy provided our 4th annual painting by the water experience... both 'o my babes painted the lake, and a duck, - SUCH great lakes... SUCH great ducks... SUCH proud boys.
... And that big Joey of mine grew up overnight: Upon losing his beloved "SHOO-SHAH" (yes, his dear pacifier) in his bed overnight, he woke up to declare that he had "swallowed it"... and didn't need it anymore, anyway.
So, no more words, - just some photos. Snapshots of these good days, - each our own. Each our own.
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