Country kids:

I put my telephoto lens on my camera to catch Emma playing on "the fort" with her third cousin, Ryan. Thats right, we keep track of those kinds of things around here and Ryan is Emma's third cousin since his grandpa is Jeff's dad's first cousin.

Emma and Ryan played all day on Saturday and had quite a fun time. Ryan is a country boy, raised on an alfalfa farm in the middle of nowhere Oregon. He likes to shoot things. His dad said that they passed our neighbor's duck farm and Ryan said, "Daddy, I sure wish you'd a brought yer gun, 'cause I'd like to shoot some ducks." This kid is almost 4 and quite funny. 

Some of you might find the imagined conversation of these kids rather obnoxious, but I can't help my self....

Ryan: Look'ee here, Emma. You need to keep your eyes on the target or that vermit will get away.

Emma: Have you shot everything yet? I want to go down the slide.

Ryan: It's not safe. I need you to cover me, little lady, not sit around play'in.

Emma: But I want to slide.

Emma: It is too much work guarding the fort. Let's go play. I think I have another gun...

Ryan: Do you have a holster? My arms are getting tired.

Cowboy caught napping.

I wasn't home for most of day as Emma and Ryan's dads worked and the kids played. Jeff took this picture of Ryan sacked out on our kitchen floor after lunch. Looks like they found the gun holster. He apparently slept like this for almost an hour. It's hard work guarding the fort.

PS I have now stooped to virtual housekeeping. I was horrified at how dirty my floor was in the original picture. Just a little touch up and my floor got "mopped." Why was that so much more fun than donning my rubber gloves and getting down on my hands and knees to scrub the floor in real life?