my laughing place

goodness. there has been so much going on! we have had non-stop visitors since returning from galiano. no complaints! i love a house full. and these house guests were all very special people, making it all the better.

the last left last night. my little brother and his wife. they live many, many miles away, and have never been to visit. (we did get to spend a christmas with them not so long ago.) we didn't do too much sightseeing. lots of hanging out by the pool. lots of cooking. a trip to hollywood. and, how could we not?, a trip to disneyland. (my sister-in-law had never been - and for my brother it had been many, many years since he was there. and the girls had this as the #1 thing to do with their uncle & aunt.)

15 hours. from open to close. and more than one visit to splash mountain. (our current favorite.) we had a blast. memories the girls (and the adults!) will never forget.

weekend to do

keep on keeping on the houseguest train
xo

#nowthederins

i've written about this family i've married into, and the girls i have the honor of calling my nieces before. then they ranged in age from 3 to 21. and now they're 11 to 29. (and one of mine is as tall - and taller - as they are!) then i wondered what trials and tribulations they would face. and now i have watched the joy and the pain that 8 years can deliver.

and now the eldest one is married. (at 29, the same age i was when i married her uncle.) to a wonderful man. who fits into this crazy family (crazy in the very best way) so easily. they married under the same chuppah that many have married under before. we are so happy for the two of them - and blessed to celebrate their union at a most beautiful spot - that reflects their beauty, inside & out. congratulations c & m. we love you! and can't wait to watch what comes next as you start this new journey together. xo

weekend to do

back to it!

around the house
order side-yard pavers
clear out raised beds
prep for guests next week

but most importantly...
celebrate the love of my eldest niece & husband to be at what promises to be a wonderful wedding!

the long way home...

it has become our tradition that d flies home early from the cottage and the girls and i linger a little longer then take the coast back home. hearing the waves crash as i fall asleep is one of my very favorite things. if we are lucky we work in a stop to PDX and/or Corvallis and/or Berkely. this year there wasn't such luck on the first two, with deadlines and holiday traffic working against us. but luck did allow my mom to join us for the drive and a last night with friends like family. girl road trip 2014 took us to seaside, or; crescent city, ca and on to the bay area. it is a time for us to chat and to be quiet. to rest and to sing. to just be together. and to gaze out the window at the amazing landscape of the western coast we love. it is such a nice way to end our trip and prepare ourselves for the adventures a new school year brings.



today the new school year began. 5th and 8th grades unrolled before us and we are all excited by the prospects. it will be the final year at our neighborhood elementary school and also the last before e moves from middle school on to high school. it will go quickly i am sure.

and i imagine another drive the long way home will be here before we know it.

...

last shell beach sunset. (sigh.)

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blackberry picking

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sticks sunset

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morning beach

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hiking up to wildfire loop and a view of georgia straight

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sunset swim at shell beach (montague)

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in our own "backyard"

...

we are home, and wading through piles of laundry and hundreds of pictures. school resumes next week, and as i work to get things together and put our routine back in order i thought, over the next few days, i'd simply share some images from the last month.

it was a glorious time, graced by perfect weather and long days spent outdoors. we visited the usual haunts: morning beach, sticks, montague harbor and shell beach, fire road trails... these places have become such a part of all of us.









scenes from a morning visit to sticks

we are here

happy summer! (you can follow ours on instagram)

weekend to do

take a break...
camp's a wrap (it was amazing!)
ready to relax


see you soon :)

bookends

1
2
3
4
5
6

i think my parents had a set of no.3...

weekend to do

tie-dye projects
upload photos to external drive
prep projects to take to cottage
research bookends

around the house
pour concrete form for umbrella base
laundry catch-up
pond pump repair / replace




bbq pool party! happy 4th!

{summer} reading list

wanted to try and capture this, as we did last year.

K

Pegasus: The New Olympians, by Kate O'Hearn
Wonder, by R.J. Palacio
The Winter Pony, by Iain Lawrence
Dark Horse, by Jenny Hughes
My Friend Flicka, by Mary O'Hara
Summer Pony, by Jean Slaughter Doty

E

The Maze Runner trilogy, by James Dashner
Four: A Divergent Collection (Divergent Series), by Veronica Roth
If I Stay, by Gayle Forman
Paper Towns, John Green
We Were Liars, E. Lockhart
The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne


and on mine:

The Signature of All Things, by Elizabeth Gilbert (I never would have picked this up normally, somehow the tagline "author of ...Eat..." turned me off. But K's teacher told me she was reading a book this spring that reminded her of me. This is it. Curiousity got me.)
The Vacationers, by Emma Staub
Criddle De Diddle Ensis: A Biographical History Of The Criddles Of Aweme, Manitoba, Pioneers Of The 1880's, by Alma Criddle (I'm going to re-read this book that I read many years ago. Last summer I enjoyed reading For Elise, a newer look at the history of the Criddle-Vane family. I am related to the Criddle clan - and curious to revisit their history.)
The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne (from my university literature class - now on E's 8th grade reading list. I'm rereading this one with her too)
Trauma Farm, by Brian Bett
Eleanor & Park, by Rainbow Rowell (on E's recommendation)

what's on your list?