Blackout Night: Finally

I called for a Blackout Night last night. We haven't done one in a while. It's not like we had time on our hands or something crazy like that, it's just that we really needed to shut out the world and focus inward for a bit.
My sister-in-law, Sarah, had given me these pretty black lanterns when she and Jon moved to a new house. I had secretly coveted them ever since she bought them. So, you know, that was awfully nice of her. See my silly poodle behind them? She's sniffing around, trying to decide what we're all doing.

My thought was that I'd clean them up and light them to use inside while all the lights were out. But once they were wiped down and lit, the oil smelled really strong and we decided not to bring them inside.

But that's okay, because most of this Blackout Night was spent outside. I won't say that the kids were filled with glee. My children, like most modern children, would much prefer to be inside, curled up with a video game, a movie or a book. Outside, it is already summery and sweaty around here. Nobody likes to sweat. Well, at least none of us do.
We took a walk to the park and did some work in our garden.

We ate a lovely salad, full of pretty tomatoes (not our tomatoes just yet...but soon!) and garden-fresh squash (thanks again, Jeffries family!). Chris and Andrew tossed around a football and Emma generally pretended things around the yard while I fussed over the southern blight that seems to be infecting some of our plants. And by the time we noticed the misty moon high above the trees,

it was too late to even bother going inside to read.
We sent the kids to the showers and lingered outside just a little longer in the twilight, drinking in the evening breeze that's still hanging around since it's still spring.


DAILY BLISS: My baby nephew, Maximus, will be born today! Wahoo! This is the second little fella for Chris' brother and his wife, and we couldn't be happier for them!