Canning!

And... this is a partial image of what we canned this year.  We did tomatoes, tomato sauce, charred chili salsa, barbeque sauce, corn salsa, apple butter, applesauce, blueberry jam, strawberry jam, salsa verde...I think that's it.  We did a lot of those things.  We also have yet to do blackberry jam.  Or pear jam.  Yum.

Roommate reunion 2013

Roommate reunion!  

My lovely roommates and their families came to visit for a few days over the course of the summer, for a few blissful days.  It was fantastic seeing how the little ones are growing (so quickly!) and to spend time together as a group again.  We made pancakes, played with the bunnies, had a girls-only lunch downtown, picked veggies from the garden, played in the rain, made fancy desserts, and enjoyed time together.  We've done this just about every year since college, but this was the first time that we had all of the husbands and children with us as well, and that made it even better.  I can't wait for next time!

The sunflowers were showing off for their visit.

 Dinners are an adventure with seven adults and three little boys under five.

 Step portrait!

 Fancy dessert!  And not that hard to make.  And SO delicious!

 Very proud of chocolate mousse and fruit tart.

 Lunch time!

 Playing with Gwenn, who really enjoys eating lettuce treats from small people.

This kid is an expert pancake-maker.

 Picking carrots!

More images from Acadia...

Acadia National Park

It's been a busy summer and early fall, full of adventures!  One of our favorite things to do is travel, and we've been hoping to go to Maine and explore Acadia National Park for a long time.  We finally made it up for a few days this summer as part of a road trip through the Northeast.

As we hiked further up the mountain, each view was better than the next!

 Depth is difficult to capture in a photograph.  In this case, we're pretty high up!  And we had to get a foot shot.

For us, it was a perfect break - hiking during the day, exploring areas of the park that are off the beaten path, exploring Bar Harbor at night, sampling gelato and Maine beers and meeting interesting people!  What a beautiful part of the country - I can't wait to go back one day!