bubbles & tree climbing

Carly, Jessica and I met up at a house Carly's sitting in Kettering for a not-quite-epic-but-great afternoon and evening. We picked up some groceries at Kroger and Jess made delicious guacamole and Carly made a red potato and Brussels sprouts dish, and I ignited the grill out on the patio and threw down three one-pound burgers and thick-cut bacon for some gourmet-style burgers. Dressed the meat with garlic, red pepper, and Cajun seasoning. Carly bought a bubble wand at Kroger and we spent a good hour playing with it out on the patio after lunch. The picture above is taken amidst our frolicking. Carly went inside and Jess and I attempted to climb some trees but failed, and wanting to climb trees so badly, we talked Carly into showing us a nearby park. 

The three of us headed out and we hiked through the woods along an overflowing ravine and Carly led us to a tree she used to climb in her youth. She scaled the tree like a cat and Jessica and I fumbled over our own feet as we trekked up to join her. Carly climbed the highest, and Jessica and I stopped about halfway up, refusing to go further for fear of slipping. Jessica nearly fell once, and my work shoes have no traction, so I didn't want to risk it. The picture to the left is taken by Carly: Jessica and I pretending to be Grade-A bad-asses. I use "pretending" because, after all, we weren't bad-ass enough to climb higher. Oh well. I don't have the agility I used to have, despite my daily practice of pilates. We spent the rest of the evening back at the house, messing around with all the strange contraptions in the basement, trying to figure out how to watch a movie--"Why do they make technology so complicated, anyways? One function, one button. It should be a rule." Eventually we gave up and just crowded around the dining room table and French-pressed some coffee and paired it with some cheeses and raspberries, and Carly fresh-squeezed some orange juice. Orange juice is one of my weaknesses--along with "Gilmore Girls" and pop music--so I was pretty stoked. Alison and Devyn came over around 10:00, and we hung out with them for a while, but both Jess and I had to work in the morning so we left the party right when it was getting started.