tower 21

Okay so still no workshop photos. I'm going to need a little leeway on that one.  This time of year is hella busy.

Someone needs to inform new moms that the end of the school year is akin to Christmas in activities to attend. This realization took me by storm.

So if you are a new mom, you have been informed by yours truly. Prepare.

But like Christmas, it's all good and exciting.  We bought new swimsuits, the boys got their short hair cuts, we are making Summer job charts and gathering books for the kid to read over the next few months least his brain atrophy.

Living near the beach during the Summer is a dream come true for me.  It never gets old. Never. We have a few trips planned, but for the most part, this Summer you will find us at the beach. To the south of life guard tower 21. Big umbrella. Cooler full of Coke Zero and strawberries.

Feel free to join us.

holding on

It is evening and the heat of the day has gone with the sunshine.

We have opened the windows to let in the cool night air and to listen to the crickets that have become part of the soundtrack of our daily life.

I can hear several night games taking place throughout our neighborhood. Children of various ages are running through the streets and across dewy lawns letting out shrieks of laughter as they go.

Every once in a while the low murmur of adult instruction breaks their joyful play. Their mothers are calling them. It is time to come in . It is getting late.

But the children are reluctant. They are holding on. Summer is slipping away. They are holding on to these last few days of carefree bliss. They are wise to what lies ahead and they are living in the moment.

I am reminded that children can be wise beyond their years.  Now is the time to savour. Now is the time to live in the moment, because tomorrow it shall be gone.

one boy's summer

One of my good friends, Tara Whitney said she was making her kids "Summer" baskets for the last day of school.  I thought it was a great idea, and it just might help alleviate some the mom guilt I have over not being able to help out in the class room for Thom much this past school year.

We have a fun summer planned and I want to kick it off in style.  I made Thom and his buddy matching pillowcases for sleep overs.  Pillowcases are fun to make because they don't take any time and and if you find your fabric on sale, they can be really cheap.  You will need about a 3/4 yard to make a standard pillowcase. Buy a full yard if you want contrasting fabric on the edge.

Here's the other things in Thom's "Summer 2011" basket:

Big League Chew

Roasting Sticks & Marshmellows

Pool Toys

Underwater Camera

Twizzlers

Summer Reading Books & Chart

Glow Sticks

Beach Ball

Sketch Book

Bug Bracelet

Flip Flops

Sparklers

Zinka Sunblock

Bottled Rootbeer

Got any other great ideas? His last day is tomorrow.

first come the peonies

Did you realize that Summer has arrived?  It crept up on me with little cat feet, quietly, slowly. Standing silent and waiting for me to notice.

And just like a fluffy little kitten I am delighted and charmed to see that it is here. Ready to play.

But first come the peonies.

I thought maybe I wouldn't be able to find some this year but my top secret source came through for me. My top secret source is Trader Joes. It just makes it feel more special if I think that I'm the only one who buys my peonies there.

Peonies come home looking like pink golf balls. They are bound so tight one wonders how they will ever become waffy frilly flowers.  But given a few days and a long drink of tepid water they just fall right open. Like magic.

Summer arrives the same way.  The end of the school year is so bound up with things to do and places to be.  You wonder how you will ever have any time to relax. And then over the course of just a few days the Summer opens up to you.  It rolls out like a long plush carpet. And you realize that the days are longer and there is less to be done. Voila! There is time for loafing and art projects and rocket pops in the sunshine.  It's magic.

I think I can probably get one more bunch of peonies before they vanish from the market.  Just like Summer, their season always feels way to short.

and before i forget...

Just one thought before the warm weather slips away:

I miss the beach.

It's not so fun with a newborn who has pink Scandinavian skin.

We didn't go much this past Summer.

I missed it.

through the brambles

gabrielle kai

If I were to enter my own Summer photo challenge, I would have to photograph some berries. Berries are summer.

When I was a kid, I used to creep into my neighbors berry patch and steal the fruit from the vine. The berries were warm, almost hot from the sunshine and so intoxicating my sisters and I frequently gorged ourselves until our bellies ached. We were, of course, found out by our mother who knew well the tell tale signs of berry juice on kid's clothes. She would chastise us half heartedly and the next day we would be back in the berries. I wonder now if our neighbors permitted us this little indulgence. Mr. and Mrs. Chambers were a kindly old couple. Surely as young children we weren't as stealth as we thought.


When I was eleven, my older sister got her period. I was unnerved by the fact that she had moved onto womanhood and left me standing alone in childhood. In an attempt to gain some respect, I stole away to the berry patch. I crouched low so as not to be detected and crushed a handful of berries into my underwear. I then proceeded to convince Heidi that I too had become a bonefide young adult. When could we start shaving our legs? Soon enough, my ruse was discovered and I was relegated back to kiddom. I grabbed my Barbies and sulked off to lick my wounds.


Mr. Chambers just died last week. It's like a little piece of my childhood is gone. I can still see him in my mind's eye, through the raspberry bramble, hanging clothes on their line, puttering around the yard and listening to Spanish language tapes. He always wore his powder blue leisure pants three inches too short with gym socks and black loafers. He had soft doughy cheeks and a shock of white hair.


I will miss that guy.


Man alive, could he grow berries.