July 4th Weekend

 Last year, 6 of Eric's high school friends planned a reunion. It was the first since high school for this group of seven friends, and it became this wonderful weekend of connections, old and new. This year, we attempted it again, though only four of the seven friends made it this time. It happened to be the four with children, though, so it was still quite a gathering. Mara (at the far right in the photo) has a large home on several acres in Vermont, and she generously offered to host this year. We arrived on Friday, left on Tuesday, and in between spent many happy hours lounging, cooking, eating, visiting, laughing at children, and just laughing in general. Roger took the following pictures, and we all pretty much let him take over as weekend photographer. I've downloaded his pictures to share with you here. Perhaps I'll add a few of my own in another post.

Mara owns 2 dogs, 3 cats, 4 horses, 5 goats, and ever so many chickens with a whole crew of baby chicks. Tess was in animal heaven.

The group on the 4th of July:

On Mara's yard on a hot day. The girl is Rebecca, who turns 10 this month. Tess adored her beyond measure.

 Tess wanted a turn getting dunked like the older kids.

 Face Painting! Tess wanted to be a cheetah.

 Dinners:

 Tess and Alaia watching the goats:

 Roger's kids, Alaia and Griffin:

 Tess riding the miniature horse:

 Perfect size!

Tess wore the band-aid on her forehead for 7 days! All weekend. (Nothing was wrong, though she got a lot of sympathy.)

 The kids gathering around the ever-so fascinating Ipad.