And the magic begins to fade...
Last month, I blogged about our mysterious inability to prevent rattlesnakes.  Patrick and I have had a good long run of complete authority, with the ability to cure boo-boos or create helpful creatures with the right touch of creativity.  Toy gnomes, for example, visit our house every so often to take toys that are left out at night.  When they take a toy, they get to keep it until they grow bored of it (so you had better hope it is not a really exciting toy).  Then they bring it back.  They are unquestionably real in our house.
Two nights ago, Mariel woke up with nightmares and came crying to our bed at 3:15.**  She ended up sleeping there with Patrick and I went to her room.  This DOES NOT happen at our house; unless someone is very, very ill everyone sleeps in their own beds.  This is mostly due to my intense need for personal space and inability to sleep when someone is touching me... but that is a whole new topic.  Back to Sunday night/ Monday morning.  All family members involved woke up tired, and so Monday night I had a bedtime plan.  I sprinked Mariel's entire room with dream dust to keep the bad dreams out.  I did it again.  And again, scooping more and more imaginary dust off of her dresser.  I tucked her in and left.  When I came back an hour later she was still awake. 
"Mom, it did not work." she said, sadly.  "I can't sleep because the dreams will come back."
"I can put more dust out." I said, attempting to be convincing.  "I must have just not had enough in my hands."
"Oh, Mom, no." she replied.  "That was just imaginary.  It does not really work."
And so Mariel got to fall asleep in our bed.  Which did not happen until 10:30.  The good news is that tonight she was so exhausted that she climbed right into her own bed and fell asleep right away.  Let's hope there are no nightmares tonight, as I don't know what my next response will be now that my magic powers have faded.
**- The nightmare was apparently about wolves chasing her, biting her arms and trying to eat her.  It sounded pretty scary to me.

A sampling of the quilts of the summer...

Meramec State Park

We spent last weekend at Meramec State Park with a group of friends and a lot of small children.  It was fun, loud and exhausting.  A nice part of the "plan" is that while there are plenty of opportunities for everyone to get together, there is also lots of time for people to split up and do what they want.  Saturday morning we did just that.

Noella and I went for a hike in the woods

Patrick and Mariel went fishing on the river

And then  the four of us hung out by the river.  The girls spent a lot of time throwing rocks in (apparently much more satisfying than fishing).

Later in the afternoon, the kids and parents tie dyed shirts, socks, handkercheifs, you name it.  This is the start- more clotheslines were added as the afternoon progressed.

 Later we went for a 90 minute tour of a cave.  It was good exercise and a bit of an adventure- a lot of tight spaces to get through, especially for me with Noella strapped to my back! 

There were three girls around the age of four on the trip, and they spent a lot of time hanging out and coloring in the play tent.  Don't let the tent fool you- we really stayed in beautiful cabins!

The Morning Commute: A Rock Opera
Every morning, whether it is Patrick or I dropping the girls off at daycare, we are treated to a song. Mariel's flair for drama can be overwhelming at times, but her creative songs often make our day.  This morning, it was in a volume and style that would have made Freddie Mercury proud.
Good morning SUN!
I love God and to share with my friends
I love my friends
I share my love with God
I share my love WITH MY FRIENDS!
Its like a playdate with my heart.
Every day.

While Mariel sings Noella accompanies with:
MAMA!
DADA!
DOG-GY!
over and over, in the manner of a percussive instrument.

Some photo updates:
This is what our backseat often looks like:

Mariel falls asleep easily in the car; Noella pretty much never does (even, say, on two day journeys to New York).  So Noella usually just laughs at Mariel while she flops and drools.
On our trip to CT, however, we seem to have rented a magic car:

We need to get one of these for ourselves. 

At my brother's house we celebrated Mariel's half birthday with-what else?- chocolate cake.  She got to do the sprinkles on top of Kate's delicious icing.

While the girls did not go to the reception for the wedding (Mariel went to the church, Noella napped) they did enjoy the rehearsal dinner, referred to as the "big party."  There were a few games, and Noella was very, very interested in playing the basketball game (which is meant for probably 10 and up).  Grampy helped her out:

The wedding was gorgeous, as were the newlyweds.  They danced the night away, including the most entertaining and well choreographed first dance that I have ever seen.  (This is not it, just a picture that I snapped later!)

Final update: Noella is moving up.  The crib disappeared today, and she is sleeping out in the open on her crib mattress, with the intention of moving up to her regular sized mattress shortly.   She fell asleep without much of a protest, even when a certain parent decided to barge into her room and take pictures with a flash.