Catching Up

Wow...where has the time gone? Summer goes by way too quickly, it always does. Routines are off, days are lazier and my pace slows way down. Sleeping in an extra hour and staying up late at night. Going to the pool and enjoying margaritas and hanging out with the girls; I love it. The girls love it too (except for the margarita part). I wish it wasn't August in a few days.

As I mentioned last time, we headed north to Cape Cod for 9 days on July 8th. The girls and I along with Grandma Marilyn had a long, rainy and slooow drive on Friday to Connecticut. We had many laughs on the near 11 hour drive but I sure was so beyond glad to pull into the hotel parking lot and do a face flop onto my bed. Steve was already there waiting for us to arrive.

It was wonderful to have just a short 3 hour drive the next day onto the Cape. We rented a house in Brewster Mass which is part of the lower Cape. It is such a quaint New England town. Charm oozing from every corner and flower box. (which were everywhere) Hydranges, roses & daisies cascade over white picket fences which surround homes that are weathered and inviting. I fell hard and fast.

The house was very nice with lots of personality - it was open and had great light. There were lots of knick-knacky things here and there but it was done tastefully and above all else, the house was comfortable and spacious for the 5 of us. The bathrooms were on the small side and they seemed to have some plumbing issues. We didn't experience any during our stay but signs on the mirrors made it clear that when you had 'AN EVENT' you should flush midway through. Really? I guess we all followed directions carefully because there were no 'issues'. The sign provided us with laughs and running jokes throughout our stay. Really priceless. There also was an outdoor shower that got lots of use from all our company and from Steve too. The grounds were beautiful. Lots of big hydrangea bushes and bird feeders. You know I love the birds! It was really just perfect. oh...and we were just a 5 minute walk to the beach. Would have been really great to have been ON the beach but around the corner is good too.

Instead of boring you with all the details, I will let some of my favorite photos do the talking. It was a great family trip and I was so happy to have my mom with us. The girls just adore their grandmother. She has come full circle because when I was little she would take us up to the Cape and she has so many fond memories so it was nice to be able to take her this time. So, it was a great trip and it hurt to come back home to reality and to 100 degree weather but we will be back again soon. A little piece of my heart is there.

this is my favorite photo. just beautifully sums up what cape cod is about to me.

my favorite photo of ellie. she just melts my heart.

headed to crosby beach in brewster/orleans

♥

my mom was so happy to be at the beach. so glad she could come back to the cape again. love the happiness in her eyes.

ellie playing in the sand at saints landing beach

beautiful sunsets over the bay

my favorite photo of me and my mom
she looks great in this photo

random boy chasing seagulls photo but it is such an iconic image - i love it.

enjoying the relaxation part of vacation. the house was a great place to hang out.

gorgeous emma on the beach

enjoying chatham beach. there were dozens of harbor seals behind us on a sand bar

this is classic. we were in provincetown after the sunset and my mom so wanted to make it to the beach to put her feet in the water. this is one of her favorite places ever so we took a nice photo and then {crash} the waves slammed in. all our faces are priceless and the story about getting to the water is even better.

oyster beds at low tide

caught a crab. pinch pinch

steve and emmy. they look so much alike.

house along main street in chatham. love it.

view from the mudflats

some of my bffs came for a night with their kids. lots of laughs...way too many.

life is good on the bay.

final sunset. cannot wait to return...soon

rainy wednesday

It's been raining and thundering all afternoon. Which deserves a big woo hoo because one, we need rain badly and two it is now a pleasant (although rainy) 72 degrees. This morning it was close to 90 and humid. I love thunderstorms so long as I don't have any trees falling on my house and it's not in such a close proximity that I have to unplug my office. Printers, computers, laminators - they all have to be unplugged because no one likes a lightning strike.

They other night Steve was away for work and we had a thunderstorm that was pretty close by. The lights went off and on at least three times and I received a call from my neighbor who was stuck across town and needed their dog brought in. I was in my pjs. It was lightning. It was scary but I ran across the street and rescued their poor dog who did not look like he was having much fun. He was glad to be let into the garage. As I ran back, I saw the girls faces pressed into the living room window yelling to hurry up and then KABOOM! the loudest clap of thunder. Ellie hugged me tight when I sprinted thru the door and Emma told me I really should be wearing a bra. Did I not say I had my pajamas on!! So, I do love a storm but only when I can enjoy it from the comfort of my own home.

So the first week of July is almost over. Nothing too exciting happened. Ellie & Steve have been to the pool and over the weekend we all went out to dinner and to see Super 8. It was PG-13 and I thought Ellie could handle it but sadly no. It was too scary. Thankfully, Steve took her out and they snuck into a showing of Cars and Emma and I enjoyed the rest of our scary movie. We also re-subscribed to the cable premium channels (HBO/Showtime/Starz). Steve and I love to watch Weeds & the Big C which are both Showtime shows and they started up again last week. The deal for 3 months was just $45.00 and all the premium channels came with it. We'll cancel it again in September. As well as enjoying Weeds & The Big C, we are watching movies again. Last night the girls and I watched Jaws. The original 1975 movie. Ellie was scared silly about Super 8 but surprisingly, a large man eating shark attacking unsuspecting beach goers does not seem to bother her. We head to Cape Cod on Friday. Hopefully, they will venture into the water while we are there and I will not regret this movie choice.

July 4th was low key. We enjoyed a lazy day at home instead of going to our neighborhood shindig. It was a beautiful day that ended with a thunderstorm. Ellie and I watched the Macy's fireworks from NYC on TV. That was some display. You know when it translates on TV well that it must have been incredible in person. Ellie started her reading program this week and her tutor comes tomorrow for their first session. Fingers crossed she will have improvements by the end of summer. I know she can do it.

Sadly I have no photos to share. I have been working a lot getting ready to shut the studio down for 10 days. I can share some new halloween tote bags that I just listed. They are super cute and are going to sell well.

Puts me in the mood for Halloween! I ♥ them!

Next time I will have plenty of photos to share. Photos from the beautiful shores and sands of Cape Cod, Massachusetts. Until then...

the last day of June...

Isn't that sad? The first month of summer is over. July starts in a few hours.... It always always just goes way too fast. Thankfully we have lots of fun events to look forward to over the next several weeks of summer but that doesn't help me get over that this is June 30th. I turn 42 in August... how is that possible?? Time just keeps on a ticking.... tick tock tick tock
Ending June with photos of my girls and summer flowers. Begrundingly welcoming in July.

one of ellie's favorite summer time activities - bubbles!

container plants on the patio. they make me happy

the face of summer :)

pant pant pant

me and emma - photo courtesy of ellie

Shenadoah National Park

Sunday the mister and I took a day for ourselves and headed west to the mountains. Emma was with a girlfriend at home and Ellie got to have some one on one time with grandma. We dropped her off on our way. She was thrilled to pieces about it too. There was partaking in sundaes, shopping, movie watching and hanging out and chatting about life. A perfect day for Grandma and for Ellie. We also had a perfect day.

We went to the Shenandoah National Park which is one of my favorite places in the world. Everytime I am there, I see or experience something new. It's never a disappointment. The weather was gorgeous. A warm 72 degrees and the birds were singing and calling from everywhere.

We decided to take a hike on a trail that was posted as relatively easy. Just 2 miles roundtrip. One mile up to the mountain top and one mile down. Oi vhey, I am so out of shape. The mile up was tough and I was sweating and breathing heavy and Steve would look back and say "are you OK?" which made it worse because it was no big deal to him... but I made it! All the way to the top and I didn't have a heart attack or stop to rest too much.

it doesn't look too tough but it was a long way up!

It was worth all the panting and cursing because the feeling of accomplishment when we reached the top was amazing. The views were beautiful and to think that we were just on the road 30 minutes before was super cool. I also realized that I need to invest in some hiking shoes for our next trip. My 2.5 year old Keds that have no traction were not really cutting it. I think a walking stick would help too oh, and maybe a hat...Once I am properly accessorized, I can go back and laugh in the face of that uphill trail.

skyline drive from up above. see.. it was a big trail to climb.

♥

the view from the top.

we had a chuckle over the bong that we found in the woods.
I don't know if I would enjoy being 'high' this high up with such a looong way to fall down.

After our hike we headed to the lodge for a late lunch. The lodge is located across from a big field and I was keeping my fingers crossed that there would be deer and fawns. I was not disappointed. There is nothing cuter than a baby fawn. The big eyes, the wet nose, the long eye lashes and those precious spots dotting their backs - love them! We spied three fawn that flitted between two moms. How very nurturing and caring each mamma deer was, even if it wasn't her offspring.

precious, just precious.

how could anyone shoot one of us? look how cute I am.

fawn in the meadow.

We saw lots of birds at the meadow too. Barn Swallows were zigging and zagging all across the road, American Robins were uncovering earth worms and a Brown Thrasher parent was teaching junior some life lessons. It was great and I could have stayed all day. My partner in crime was very tolerant but there is only so long that he can look at birds so he went off to the car to listen to some talk radio and relax. Again, I could have stayed for another hour just watching and observing and appreciating.

brown thrasher family
notice the baby hasn't 'matured' into his golden eyes yet

finally, one took a break. barn swallows fly for a looong looong time

baby barn swallows!

We ended our day hiking down from one of the overlooks to a grouping of rocks. We heard a Barred Owl call and saw several warblers. Three new life birds for me. I was so happy. Sadly, they were too fast for me to photograph as they flew from tree top to tree top in mock speed. AND...Steve was standing too close to the edge for my liking and he was taking the edge off my bird high because I was afraid he was going to fall. Next time we go, I am bringing a tent and a sleeping bag and some hiking shoes and I am staying for a day or two...or three.

see....see how close to the edge he is. made me very nervous!

goodbye shenandoah national park. until next time...

The month of June

Summer is in full swing. We have had fabulous weather and so far we have been quite busy. The girls finished school on the 18th so this is their first 'official' week on break. They both did well in school. Emma heads to high school in September and Ellie will be off to 3rd grade. Cannot believe I have a high schooler. She is excited about this transition and I am excited for her. Third grade is known to be much more challenging than 2nd grade so we will have our fingers crossed that Ellie will do OK. She starts summer reading school next month and we also have lined up a reading specialist to tutor her twice a week. Hoping it all pays off by the end of the summer.

We have been busy since our trip to St. Jude. We enjoyed having our friends Laurel and Tony visit us for a long weekend. Laurel and I shopped and had lunch and many laughs. They also brought down their kayaks and we took an early morning run at the lake. It was amazing. I was able to kayak down into a little cove and see 3 Belted Kingfishers. I think mom was teaching a class on fishing. I was able to get really close which was a treat for me. We also spied the Osprey and several catfish jumping out of the water. I so love the lake we live on. It's a blessing in my life.

After our visit with Laurel and Tony, Steve's cousin Karen was next to visit. She is such fun and we all laugh at her fun spirit. One day I had to work and she played with Ellie for most of the day. Ellie was overjoyed! We also went to Busch Gardens amusement park in Williamsburg. It was just Emma, her friend, Karen and I. Since Ellie is not a fan of all the 'big' rides she stayed home and went out to the movies with Steven. Us big ride fans were not disappointed in the least. It was the first time for Emma and I (Karen too) going to Busch Gardens. It wasn't very crowded so we were able to ride the roller coasters all day without much of a wait. Love when that happens. When you purchase a ticket you can come back all summer long so I am sure we will be back in the very near future. There are still a lot of things that we didn't get to, that I would like to do there.

Weather wise, we have been fortunate to have pretty great weather. It hasn't rained much and there has only been one or two thunderstorms. It has been a bit on the hot side but nothing horrible. The life in the backyard has been a pleasure to watch this season. So many birds and their babies, chipmunks, lizards, the two Mallard ducks that come everyday, frogs, toads, deer and racoons. I love to just sit and watch from the porch. My favorite summer time activity.

One of Ellie's favorite activities is swimming and she has already gone to 3 pool parties. She did have to bid farwell to one of her good friends who moved to Utah and another little friend has been in China for 2 weeks but thankfully, there are still lots of little girls in our neighborhood to play with. Emma has been hanging out with friends too and last week I went to "chaperone" with a girl friend whose older daughter was having a party at our clubhouse. Emma and her friend were invited to come along but they were so nervous because these kids were sophomores and juniors (I know right!). Well, I spied this really cute boy and inquired about him (a rising sophomore) and then he was introduced to Emma and now they are texting and he just asked her out to the movies. We haven't put a dating policy into effect yet so we aren't sure how to handle this. It's fun to be a match maker though!! Who knew!

I have been busy with work too. Hoping to get to some new designs out this month. Emma has been helping a lot in the studio which is great. She does require payment in clothes from Hollister but so far the arrangement is working. Next, we are gearing up for our July vacation to Cape Cod. Cannot wait. Here are some random photos from the last few weeks of our summer thus far.

We took my mom the Melting Pot for her 75th Birthday. Oh my...was it good!

Ruby Throated male humming bird at the feeder.

photo from Busch Gardens. A scary one of me but man riding roller coasters in 95 degree weather makes you look a bit beat down.

Steve after one of our canoe rides on the lake.

Emma and her friend. Such pretty girls.

We have two chipmunks in the yard and I love to watch their antics.

Emma & Ellie enjoying a summer night.

Ellie headed off to another pool party

Shot from our canoe ride on the lake.
See what I mean about this lake - such a blessing.