Give me your hands, if we be friends

 July 12, 2014. Saturday. Highland Park Bowl, Rochester. Rochester Community Players' 6th Performance of A Midsummer Night's Dream.

Dramatis Personae: Dad, Agnes, Leah, Abby the faerie, Allison, Paul, me, and my two faeries.

The brilliant trick about this performance, you should know, is the double cast. One cast spoke and acted the lines, traditionally. The other cast were faeries, and they performed in ASL. Each speaking cast member had a faerie, signing double. It. was. brilliant. The front rows were filled with enthusiastic members of Rochester's large deaf community. Bravo, RCP.

 In an act of complete and utter lunacy, I brought the children. Intermission was at 9:30, to give you an idea of the extent of my madness. But... they loved it.

 We only had to take one break to visit Frederick Douglas' statue to dispel a rowdy fit the kids were having. They soon returned to their seats.

That evening I got to see two new things in my dear old friend Allison's life. Allison, who I have known since 7th grade; Allison, who came with me to Twelfth Night, same place, last year. First, I saw her brand new house in the South Wedge! Al's a homeowner! I'm so impressed. And, it's a beautiful little place with a porch and walkable to some of the best stuff in that smashing neighborhood.

Second, I met her young man! And I like him quite as much as the house. :-)

 Oh, and, to enhance the charm of the evening, the kids dressed as faeries. I rather hoped this might soften peoples' hearts toward my decision to bring two tinies to a 2 hour Shakespeare play.

I think it worked. 

 The Mechanicals' Play and Bottom in general absolutely STOLE the show, in my opinion.

"Well roared, Lion... 

Well run, Thisbe.

Well shone, Moon!"

The end was as charming as this play always is.

"Jack shall have Jill;

Nought shall go ill;

The man shall have his mare again, 

and all shall be well."

I took my own medicine for the next couple of days, as the kids were dangerously cranky and have been working their way back to a usual bedtime slowly. 

But, I mean, I wasn't going to miss it.

Follow the Drinking Gourd

 Northward we drove from Maryland on July 9th.. Northward until we reached visited state #9.....

We lunched at our favorite McDonalds, in Lewisburg:

 after a quiet afternoon drive we came in sight of the final state most of the family visit this summer, and the nothernmost:

(That last statement has Jon as an exception, as he is currently in Worcester, MA doing an American Antiquarian Society Seminar)

Arrival in NY put them straight into Grandpa Jim's arms... just in time for stories!

"The Awesomest Day Ever"

It was Miles' decision how to spend his actual 5th birthday, July the 8th. He chose to be celebrated by his grandparents at their house, and to include a boat ride and lunch out with his family in his celebrations. We had tickets for a tour boat trip (apology bribes from when we bought a ghost tour and got stood up by the tour guide).

First thing in the morning, his grandma took him out to get donuts! He was able to get a pink sprinkled one, his favorite. Soon we were ready to sally forth.

July 8th 2014 in Annapolis was about the same as I remember July 8th of 2009: sunny, humid, and hot. It amused us that the 95 degrees it reached that day was the hottest day we'd passed all summer, in a summer that's included days in Florida, Kentucky and Tennessee. Still, a boat makes its own breeze, and was a perfect choice for the day.

 The tour took us around Annapolis and the Naval Academy and told us about sites of interest up to the mouth of the Severn River. How relaxing to glide by buildings on a boat!

 He had a few minor alarms at first, but soon both kids got their sea legs.

 When they found it was his birthday, they told us he qualified for some special treatment:

Meet Captain Miles, steer-er of ships!

With his trusty first mate, Unicorn, of course. 

They gave him a sticker that read "Captain for the Day." 

 We ate Moe's (at his request) and while we were eating, Miles said, "This is the awesomest day I EVER had." All I could think was, Is that all it takes? This is why children are beautiful. 

At the building he was born in, 5 years later. 

 In the evening, the cake was eaten, the presents opened, and the hats worn by everyone.

He's so excited about Adele's gift: his first My Little Pony!

He's also the happy owner of a bucket of real, big kid legos!

I find party hats to be very flattering. I pray they come into everyday fashion one day.

This guy. He is just so much fun, every day. 

"A Party of Special Magnificence"

There is this little boy in our house who is THISCLOSE to being five years old! So we threw him a party and invited all his friends. It seemed the thing to do.

He and I have been reading The Hobbit for... rather a long time now. It goes slow at our bedtime pace. We have only just gotten to the Attercop Spiders. Still, he lloooves it. Loves hobbit holes, and dwarves and dragons and all. So for his fifth birthday, the party was (loosely) hobbit themed. 

Didn't Kroger's bakery do a fantastic job??

He was thrilled with it. 

 We invited Miles' whole preschool class and daycare class to the party, and it worked perfectly because about a third of each came. 14 children. Hey, just one more "4" and you'd have 144 hobbit guests! And, absolutely NO Sackville-Bagginses showed up.

It's an allusion; don't worry about.

 I had very little time for photography! The children began by hunting for all the gold "treasure" the dragon stole. When they found the whole horde, I told them they'd (unfortunately) woken the dragon with all their noise and we'd have to slay him!

He lasted long enough for each child to have at least one go, and we were halfway through the second round when the six year old split him in two. Joy! and candy frenzy! It was perfect.

We hanged his remains as an example to other dragons. 

After the enormous, delicious pizza Jon brought, the kids got to play at the enormous playground next to our shelter.

 Rounded everyone back up for Miles to open his gifts (A set of fairy wings! A transformer! A rocket! A clay set! A new bag of crayons and coloring books! A marvelous haul!), and for him to give them birthday gifts (little trinkets) in proper hobbit fashion.

So, there was nothing to do but eat cake and play with the new bottle rocket.

Got em the first try!

 A group shot. I loved this group! I do hope he keeps seeing his old friends from time to time.

It's a small town, so it seems fairly likely!

Cheese!

July, she will fly/ And give no warning to her flight

We are restored to Ordinary Time back in Blacksburg. Last week, we paid another visit to the beloved Virginia Tech Duck Pond. 

 A little duck feeding, a little pooh-sticks, a little exploring. So peaceful and drowsy and perfectly summer.

Our plucky little friend

We just called him "Little Guy."

 This 4th of July we were at home and had not recently moved, which made it special. We got to celebrate all day!

The day started with a visit to Smithfield Plantation. Remember our Easter visit? We had a lazy and pleasant morning seeing the sights on the grounds... and pausing for photos.

It's your favorite shirt, Jon! :-)

He has become a Virginian. He actually used the word "y'all" in a sentence extemporaneously yesterday.

Miles wanted to stay with this lady and her spinning wheel for an hour. He nearly did. 

 The high was about 79 degrees. About the same as Easter, I think!

Gorgeous. 

The blacksmiths were making nails. 

 At 2, we were among the parade spectators.

Frosty Parrot was working the crowd pre-parade

C'mon, parade!

 Finally, it began.

With a jolly band!

The Smithfield crew in historical dress

Mark Warner's float! With "Gay Pride," "Women's Pride" and "Local Pride" signs. Oh, Blacksburg. 

 Smoky the Bear showed up, for some reason.

No, I know why. It was to make Adele's DAY.

Hoorah! And over in 30 minutes. In the summer, Blacksburg really is a small town. The Holiday Parade is bigger. 

 In the evening, it was off to the town park for food, music, and fireworks. We picnicked on the lawn. Like you do.

They do a great job waiting in line. 

 Someone tell me if you know the name of the object this gentleman set off before the fireworks. It was like a tiny hot air balloon, with a flame underneath and a billowing cloth-looking bag over it. When he let it go just right, the thing floated clear into space, as it appeared.

Qu'est-ce que c'est?

 I really wish we had photograph #1 of the fireworks. Unfortunately, as soon as they began than Miles had a full scale hysterical meltdown. He was SO terrified. I don't think I've ever seen him quite that frantic. We had to go sit on a bench and watch from a distance before he could enjoy anything.

Adele, meanwhile, sat serenely on the blanket and said, "Oh colors! Oh that is beautiful." every so often. They are so very, very different.

Tomorrow is another long-awaited day: We expect a party of about 30 people at Miles' 5th birthday party! Wish us luck.