We celebrated (e:puddlediving)'s 39th birthday last night with gaming. This is 7 Wonders. Also played Alhambra. We have a new set of expansions for it but didn't use any of them because two players hadn't played the core game. Happy birthday, Lana!

We took a camping trip in June to the Allegheny National Forest, Pennsylvania's only national forest, to see the synchronous fireflies during their mating season. These fireflies are best known in Asia and the Great Smokey Mountains but Allegheny Defense Project noticed them last year and brought researchers in to check 'em out this year.

They're amazing. Breath-taking amazing.

I didn't even try to take pix of the fireflies - incredibly difficult shooting conditions, much much harder than fireworks. So I took pix of camping.

A couple of the coop house kids got married on Thursday afternoon near the upper rapids at Niagara Falls State Park. A simple Episcopalian ceremony, a picnic, and croquet!

Basement kitteh in disguise.

The three houses destroyed in the fire in Bloss (e:heidi,56570) have been demolished and the fourth is gutted for rehab.