Hootenanny in the Creek

So we recently had a hootenanny in the creek. Here is a definition, in case you are unfamiliar with this sort of thing.

1. hootenanny

(n.) celebratory event held in the southern United States and possibly featuring some of the following: home-brewed hooch, straw hat, people 'dipping' socially, banjo, air boat, shotgun, confederate flag. interestingly enough, it tends to be wild, uninhibited and dionysian despite the socially conservative views of most of its participants

Um, ok, well we didn't ACTUALLY have a confederate flag, hooch, banjos, air boats, shotguns, OR straw hats. Let's try another one.

2. hootenanny

A party, most generally one that is, well, chock full of hoot, with just a little bit of nanny.

Oz: We should figure out what kinda deal this is. I mean, is it a-a gathering, a shindig or a hootenanny?

Cordelia: What's the difference?

Oz: Well, a gathering is brie, mellow song stylings; shindig: dip, less mellow song stylings, perhaps a large amount of malt beverage; and hootenanny, well, it's chock full of hoot, just a little bit of nanny.

Xander: Well, I hate brie.

Yeah, that's the one. Chock full of hoot, with just a little bit of nanny.

My older brother taught me that word, I think. One of the many reasons I think he's great.

So, anyhow, back to the hootenanny. A Sunday or two ago after church we drove to a park that had a creek in it and brought a picnic lunch. Oh, yes, about the picnic...we don't go on picnics very often, but Braden has had a recent obsession with them and has been orchestrating pretend picnics at our house several times a day for the last few weeks. He tells us to sit down and then puts his hand out and asks if we want strawberries or bananas and then says, "Are they very yummy?" This gets repeated and so on and so forth. So, we figured it was high time that we take him on a real picnic. Thus, the trip to the park. The creek was just a bonus.


So, as you can see above, Braden had a lovely little barefoot dip in the creek and found many large sticks.

He also got walked by our friends' dog.


And went frolicking.


Keri, as usual, was highly entertained by watching him.




When she got bored with that, she generally scurried about, finding small rocks and twigs and other sorts of organic choking hazards.


And, finally, she rolled in the grass and had a good belly laugh.


And, that, my friends, is just the sort of thing that goes on at a hootenanny.

But next time, I seriously want to try out the banjo and confederate flag type.