s'mores and sunburn

this weekend was our 3rd annual neighborhood campout. always feels like the official start of summer
















we drove through the canyon with the windows open and music loud. we got the same spots as last year. pretty much. we celebrated June birthdays. (the predominant birthday month in our neighborhood!) we cooked over the open fire. we danced with glow-sticks. we shared our tent and fell asleep to quiet chatter and the sound of the waves. we took a very early morning walk to the beach in our pajamas, to say hello to the ocean. we had an amazing breakfast. (why are bacon and eggs so much better when you are camping?) we rushed back to the beach for the day. we ate sandy sandwiches. we drove home with the music low, and eyelids heavy.

2010

2009

procrastinating.

a million and one things to do. and the girls are sleeping in...

so i thought i'd photograph our CSA produce :)


and it is (really is) summer vacation - so blueberry buckle it is.


molly's recipe.



dwell on design was great. i felt my talk went really well. and it was so great to meet hayley there!

some design inspiration we took in over here.

saturday swim

the bulk of the day was spent building some of the (amazing) new raised beds for our school garden. hot work.

an afternoon swim was absolutely necessary.





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interested in learning more about greening schoolyards? i will be on the sustainability stage at dwell on design tomorrow - along with david king from the venice learning garden; michelle frier of mia lehrer and associates; and alissa walker from GOOD magazine (and of gelatobaby fame!). i am very honored to be part of this great panel. (and excited to check out all the other great things happening at dod!)

come say hi!

school's out for summer

so of course we celebrated with our neighbors. (ice cream and a neighborhood dance partay.)

these are the kids we walk to school with every day. the kids we look for after dinner to jump rope and ride scooters with. the moms and dads we call on when someone is ill, or late, or just needs a cup of sugar. the moms and dads we celebrate our milestones with. and who we can let our hair down with when we need to. these are our neighbors. (and i count my blessings to be part of a growing neighborhood school.)

and at the end of the day these are our friends first and foremost. and we wouldn't have it any other way.


it is going to be a great summer!

::48::

angel food cake with a dusting of confectioner's sugar, fresh berries and whipping cream.

and 48 candles. carefully placed by your eldest daughter.

happy birthday cowboy. xo

back to our regular programming

how quickly we slide back into our routine.


summer weather snacks



a field-trip & end-of-school year lunch with my neighbor to potted and reform school (for patio furniture for him and a look at the table for me)


table hockey with bubbie & cousin sam

so thankful for the little things.

so good. and so many smiles.

happy monday.

happy dads' day

d is home. we are all so very grateful. and humbled by this experience. the hospital can be a scary place. and one's health can deteriorate quickly. a reminder to take it easy. and enjoy every moment. and just in time to celebrate fathers' day.



fathers' day is always bitter-sweet for me.

i love the joy in watching d's relationship with the girls.

and i miss the amazing relationship i had with my own dad.




wishing all the amazing dads i know (and those i don't!) a wonderful wonderful day.

pumped up kicks.

how do you navigate the music choices in your child's life? (oh katie perry! watching k sing your lyrics in the bathroom mirror makes me cringe!) the girls pick these songs up at school and then we have long conversations about what is appropriate for a kid and what's not. but the tunes are catchy and i still find them singing. (they love to sing!)

i get it. i don't love the lyrics - but can't get this song out of my head. trying to approach it by putting together playlists of songs that i hope they will find catchy - and that i feel good hearing them sing! (this this and this right now.)



k and her best bud recently performed don't stop believin' (a la glee - which k has never seen) as part of an after-school class. even with the smokey room / cheap perfume...


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we are optimistic d will come home today. xo

jumping in

we are all about jump rope right now. jumping in. double dutch. 2-4-6-8 meet me at the garden gate... its the perfect after dinner activity. even better when neighbors walk by and jump in.

d is down (really down) with a nasty bout of pneumonia. house full of girls missing him. we can't double dutch (load the dishwasher or much of anything else) without him. xo

(thank goodness - once again - for my amazing neighbors. couldn't have gotten through today without them. xo)

suzuki recital

our end-of-year recital for the girls' suzuki violin group. joined by a cello group. so good.

i love the suzuki method of teaching. so much by ear. and so much by nurture.

and the girls love playing. so very good!

wonder full.

our weekend was full. 3 birthdays to celebrate. a game of mini-golf. and some work in the school garden.

of course the highlight was celebrating the 7 yrs of my baby-girl. she and d concocted a back-yard obstacle course over a year ago (inspired by stumbling on this article in one of my saved MS Kids - which on closer inspection is older than she is!  just can't part with these...) and were finally able to put it into action. it included "the sombrero slalom" (navigating a slalom course with a water-balloon laden sombrero); balloon tunnel; and-hula-hoop-bunny-jump. and a lot of water features :)





and there was cake. this one. (yummy!) my first attempt at italian meringue buttercream. (a success!) with lots of sprinkles. and because the birthday girl isn't fond of cake - cookies as well. so good. shortbread from this book. (which never steers me wrong.) snapped up before I could take a picture. but you can imagine pink "7"s and stars



recouping today - and cleaning up the mess!

happy monday!

::7::

this kid lights up a room like nobody's business.
her (toothless!) grin is infectious - and she is fun-ny!

love you baby-girl. happy birthday!

::7::

6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1!

::

we played hooky yesterday and took in a casual/fancy lunch here (a California State Historical Landmark on an LAUSD campus) in support of school gardens. hosted by ema and mary sue milliken - the food was amazing. and much of it grown on schools sites. (yay!)

::

this post by heather moore made me smile.

and long story short - I'm going to "blank the blink". not to say I won't be around here - just cutting back on all my "e" time. (looking forward to august and some time really unplugged.)

::

of course there is a big birthday celebration to prepare for! (how did we get from 3 to 7 so quickly?)

happy Wednesday xo

monopoly on not much

a great good do nothing much weekend. centered on one of us recovering from a nasty cold, and all of us playing monopoly, and jamming with our niece/cousin morgan (momo) - here for a couple of weeks from FL. nothing much but exactly what we needed.

(have i mentioned how amazing my nieces are lately? they now range in ages 8 - 26. and one is graduating from UC Davis this weekend. whoo hoo Sammy!)

hello june

so very good to see you.

making me happy:

last blooms from our cut-flower bed

new seedlings taking hold

5 things

all these friendship bracelet patterns

(oh and isn't this one gorgeous.)

d's acoustic version of this song

toothless smiles

this pattern meeting this fabric

prepping for an exhibition

only 17 more school lunches 'til vacation!