Saturday Morning With Kids

Jill went mountain climbing again today.  We picked up the grand kids about 9:30 and were off to the nearby Des Moines Farmers Market at the Des Moines marina. We hoped to have a little fun before it got too hot.

These are all iPhone photos.  Isaac took photos with his phone too.  Yes, that's him hiding behind his hair.  He insists on growing it long, so we are all letting him

 These warty gems are bitter melon.

 We bought one of these cat toy gloves for $3.00.

 We admired the little nosegays of sweet peas. 

 A rainbow of berries.

 Irene thought these mini melons were adorable.

We bought a bag of dark cherries, not these more expensive Mt. Rainiers.

 I chatted with these sketchers.

Irene got berry lemonade and Isaac got plain lemonade.

A colorful street corner.

We finished the market, and I left a trail of cash behind.  I bought cherries, little cucumbers, kohlrabi, and baby carrots, a cookie for Isaac, a cinnamon roll for Irene, their drinks, and a beach glass necklace for myself.  Oh, and the cat toy.  Gotta' support the local merchants and farmers.

Then we walked over to the DeMoines Creek Park and went out on the tide flats.  It was an especially low tide today.

 We were walking out nearer the water when I heard Irene squeal. Then Isaac yelled out.  They were getting squirted.  We did some investigating and discovered we were in a colony of horse clams. I showed them how to poke the siphon holes and then stand back.  Neither of them wanted to touch the clam necks.  Isaac finally consented to using a beach rock to poke them.

 That brown circle left of center in the photo below is the top of a horse clam siphon.

                                                         Squirt!

We left about 11:30 and it was already heating up. We did a few jobs at home, mostly setting up Irene's flower shop for Thursday, and then spent most of the afternoon indoors on screens and reading and hanging out.  I even turned on the air conditioner this afternoon, the first time in three years. 

Jill returned this evening, tired and sore from climbing Merchant Peak, really a 3.5 mile rock scramble to over 6000 ft, and then back down again, to pick up the kids.  About 9:00 Tom and I went for our two mile walk after the sun had gone down, and watched the super moon rise in the east.

Summer continues.