Summer Saturday

An afternoon with my love and my brother + an oasis in the middle of the city + flip flop weather + vanilla ice cream and piles of cherries = a happy me.

Eliana

This is my week for spending time with adorable little misses, it seems! Yesterday I had a date with Eliana, and we spent all afternoon reading books, building with blocks, chasing after Oliver the kitty cat, and inspecting rocks in the backyard. Eric and Tessa graciously allow us to claim her as our niece, and if she didn't already have us wrapped tightly around her finger (and she most certainly does!), the fact that she's started saying Uncle and Auntie whenever we visit has sealed the deal.

Strawberries in the sunshine

....with my dear friend Tonya and her two darling munchkins make for a very happy June morning. I see lots of freezer jam in our future!

Another peek

I'm so enthralled with the pictures from our Montana adventure that I can't resist putting up a few more. Derek will be handing off the whole kit and kaboodle this weekend, and then, hoooo boy, you'll be getting an eyeful!



And have I mentioned, once or possibly 5000 times, what an incredible treat and privilege it is to enjoy things like this with your very own brothers and sisters? Oh, the memories we're making!

Montana 2010

More to come, but for now....

Cedar Point

Just as we suspected, flying across the country to zip around on rollercoasters for two days was the perfect way to celebrate our birthdays. Raptor flips upside down 6 times at 57 miles per hour and it's one of our very favorites; can you tell? :)

The Sunshine Coast

Have you ever visited? It will take. your. breath. away. We're still trying to catch ours!

60 years in the making

When your Dad turns 60, the only thing to do is have a big to-do. And so we did.







Behind the scenes:



What is going on here? It's a mystery to us, too :)

Eee i eee i oh!

There's a little park near our house; it's full of big trees and beautiful flowers, and it has plenty of grass for running and playing. It also has, and this is my very favorite part, a little barnyard full of wonderful barnyard animals. I spent some time there this afternoon, talking with a sweet calf and some wooly sheep and three sleepy goats, and admiring the patience of a mama pig with her very hungry piggies. I could spend hours in a springtime barn, just like Fern from Charlotte's Web. It makes me happy :)

The Missouri is calling...

and we are answering, yes sir. The four of us are planning in earnest now for what we affectionately call 'Montana 2010: Living the Dream', and I'm so excited I can hardly sit still. We're going to skip Glacier National this time, and spend some extra days on the river itself, lolling about in our canoes and prowling around our campsites. What's so neat is that we have our memories from last year pulling us back to the Upper Missouri, but the anticipation of unknown adventure and fun waiting in the distance, too. Get ready, Montana, we're coming for you!

Good morning, for sure

Oh, Ohio!

If there's a better way to celebrate our birthdays than this, I'd like to know it:






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Any person or entity is hereby authorized to view, copy, print and distribute this document, subject to the following conditions:
- The document may be used for informational purposes only.
- The document may only be used for non-commercial purposes.
- Any copy of this document or portion thereof must include this copyright notice.

Spring fling

We went for a hike today, Jan Michael, Eric, Tessa, Eliana and I. It's possible, Jan Michael and I supposed to ourselves, that we might see a trace or two of snow. It would be a good idea, we said to each other, to wear jeans and fleeces just in case it's chilly...

Well. Jan Michael and I seem to have some kind of common sense malfunction when planning for the likelihood of freezing temperatures and towering drifts of snow in crazy places like... the mountains, for crying out loud. (Remember that time in Glacier National, Derek and Sara?) The next time we suggest something like this to Eric and Tessa, I'm sure they'll arrive with snow suits and cross country skiis....and probably extras for the two of us since we're too dumb to pack them for ourselves :)

But really, it was such a fun adventure. We love this little waterfall hike, and in the snow, it's breathtaking. Besides, so often it's the unplanned-for things that make a day memorable. If the trail would have been clear and dry, would we have needed the 4-wheel drive in Eric and Tessa's car to get the to the trail in the first place? Would Tessa have been caught in an sudden, engulfing curtain of falling snow while standing underneath a tree, minding her own business? Would I have slipped and fallen on my behind twice, with a foot of powder to break my landing? Would Jan Michael have had a bracing, snowy jog from the car back to the waterfall when, at the end of the hike, we discovered we'd left our backpack behind?

Here's to experiencing the happy unexpected with dear friends...and a pair of dry socks to change into when you get home :)








Some of us were more impressed by the scenery than others :)

The inaugural push

If you've not clicked the link in the previous post, you'd better. And if you have, you'll understand perfectly why we spent Saturday night pushing the Tercel. There are some things in life that are too good to pass up; Club T is one of them.

Since we're too far away to join in the festivities a few days a week at the official club headquarters, our plan is to get in serious practice and training here at home. That way, when we do have the opportunity for sanctioned participation, we'll blow our previous times out of the water. As they say, the only thing that ever sat its way to success was a hen.

Derek is crazy.

He is also straight out of the awesomeness factory. You can't be one without the other, I've often found. Anyway, here's the proof:

PUSH ON, COMRADES, PUSH ON

Gus and the ocean

That's a misleading title, and I will explain: Gus has not been to the ocean. In fact, neither Jan Michael or (nor?) I have been, and neither has my sis (recently, I mean). It's just that my parents spent last weekend at Cannon Beach, basking in the sun and warmth, and now I'm drooling and fending off the compulsion to toss my husband and toothbrush in the car and hustle down there. But since we can't go, at least not this minute, I've stolen some of their pictures. It makes me happy to look at them.


And now about Gus: I see it's been almost a month since he's made an appearance on here, which is far too long. Here is never-before-seen footage of his charm and cleverness. Have I mentioned that we love him?

Heigh ho, heigh ho

Today I decided that sunny spring days are the very best for getting things done. In the winter I prefer to stay in the bathtub all day and in the summer I like to spend my time hiking around waterfalls while eating ice cream cones. There seems be something, though, about warm spring Saturdays that make me want to be responsible and accomplish important business. And so this afternoon I mowed the lawn. This is of particular significance because I usually get out the lawn mower for the first time around Memorial Day and then put it away again for the winter in late August. I feel confident in saying, then, that our neighbors have all keeled over from shock; I wish them all a speedy recovery. And while I was slogging through 8 inches of grass on the ground, Jan Michael was high in the sky, engaged in hand to hand combat with the colony of moss that's taken up residence on our roof. Next we'll have to tackle the flower beds, which will take both of us working together and then some, since our fervent hope is that our neighbor won't have to come knocking on our door like she did last summer, weed wacker in hand, politely asking if she might cut down our thistles since they were encroaching on her yard.

I especially like this one because I can see my Jan Michael's shadow on the roof :)

Spring

It's 6:00 in the evening at the beginning of March. The sun is still shining over our heads, and our little valley is humming with life: lovely, blooming things and chirping birds and rushing, tumbling water in the creek at the bottom of the hill. The two of us are really so priviledged to live where we do.


'First a howling blizzard woke us,
Then the rain came down to soak us,
And now before the eye can focus -
Crocus.'
- Lilja Rogers