Have you been waiting to hear how Wren’s dance recital went this spring? Well, it was a disaster. I ruminate on the whole experience today over at Moonfrye. Check out my piece, “A Dance Lesson for Mama.”
Moonfrye is Soleil Moon Frye’s site. You know, Punky Brewster… eeeeeeeeeeek!
Happy weekend, lovelies. I hope you’re having a great one. I’ve found myself with a (very) rare moment of quiet with Chris out on a bike ride and the girls both asleep with sweaty heads. It probably won’t last long, but I’m soaking up a tiny bit of me-time. So I wanted to share a few pics from this week’s pesto fun. We’re finally getting to enjoy something from the garden: basil!
Why do I always think I’ll enjoy my tomatoes with my fresh basil, but my basil usually has come and gone before my tomatoes are ready? I’m not sure what I’m doing wrong with the basil, but we’re all enjoying it so much right now while it’s still growing strong. Wren picked all the basil for the pesto we made this week. This is a great thing for little hands to do. In fact at one point I asked her to look at me so I could take a picture and she said, “can I just pick, Mama?!” Apparently the paparazzi is getting a bit out of control around here. Sorry, kid, just trying to capture these fleeting moments…
We had grilled basil pesto pizza one night, a basil pesto pasta another night and three mornings in a row we had green eggs (scrambled eggs with pesto on top) with ham! But you’re only allowed to make and eat them AFTER you’ve read the book for the billionth time, Sam I Am.
Oh, and we had pesto straight off the spoon too… we just can’t seem to get enough.
Are you enjoying anything from your garden yet, lovelies? Or is it mostly just big and green and overrun with weeds like mine? Arrghh. Any tips on how I can get the basil from bolting before the tomatoes are ready? Please and thank you.
Behold some beauty, lovelies. My Mom (thanks, Mutti!) sent my brother and I each a package of trance lanterns and we chose to explore this whole fire-with-young-kids thing together. It was so fun and incredibly beautiful. Have you seen these yet? I haven’t seen them sold locally yet, but you can get them here on Amazon. As Wren likes to say, “and they don’t make any noise!” She does NOT like the noise of fireworks. These would be great for any celebration out in a meadow or near the water where you could gaze up at a lot of them at once. En masse, lovelies, en masse. We’re going to set off a few more tonight with the other cousins. More fire-with-young-kids fun!
We’re in the midst of the National Cherry Festival here in Traverse City and while I love my annual corn dog (check!) and ferris wheel ride (and elephant ear, ahem) just like the next fair-goer, the traffic and craze and dust and heat and cheese factor of it all gets to me after a few days. The girls and I were in need of a quick escape from it and I remembered there were some hosta gardens about twenty minutes away I’d heard about. People have been telling me about them for several years now, but I hadn’t made it a priority to go see them. And although it wasn’t on my summer list, it’s one of the best times I’ve had this summer.
Cedar Hedge Gardens (no hosta in the name at all!) is really a private home with four acres of Japanese-style gardens for wandering, chimes for listening, gongs for banging and ponds for gazing. It was just what we needed: calm, serene, beautiful. I wanted to take a really long, cool nap under the big trees with the elephantine hosta leaves to shade me. Aaaah.
Little sister Phoebe Jane is eight months old. She (we) had a rough time last week with a wakeful, clingy, cranky, restless babe. Teething? This week she’s a lot better and I’ve been able to actually put her down for a little while without lots of screaming and crying involved. Sigh. Don’t you hate it when your wee ones are out of sorts, but they can’t tell you why yet?
We just love this little one. I thought she was going to be more “laid back” than Wren, but she is beginning to assert herself. In the long run, I love this in my girls. But on a day-to-day basis, geesh, a tiny bit of ease would be lovely. Universe, can you please help me out here?
Rocks from the Big Lake are apparently great teethers. Phoebe discovered this for herself, that smart little birdie of mine.
Last week we spent a steamy mid-afternoon picking more than our share of Grandpa Jon’s raspberries. Strawberries are usually my favorite fresh summer fruit, but put a quart of hot-off-the-bush raspberries in front of me? Watch out. Amazing.
Wren is a funny little birdie, but you probably already knew that. She’s really into being nude these days and all she needed was to see Grandpa picking without his shirt to join in on the fun. Soon enough, however, even a pair of shorts proved to be too much constriction. Because really, who doesn’t want to pick raspberries in the nude? Oh my.
Phoebe is into a different sort of fun these days. While she too enjoys nudity, she also loves a good round of peekaboo. Or maybe she’s wondering where all the raspberries went? Guilty.
Once we got home, all four of us dove (almost) head first into the raspberries. Phoebe thought it was pretty incredible too.
I’m not really sure how babies do it exactly, but they make such a ridiculous mess from such a small amount of anything. Phoebs, raspberries on your cankles, really? Bathtime was a juicy one.
The cherries are in short supply this year. The early warmth and sun in March brought out the blossoms and then more normal temperatures returned and the needle dipped below freezing. You can guess what happened next. Sorry, cherries. We enjoyed a ripe handful yesterday and they were delicious. Summer in northern Michigan is really here!
I’m not really much of a planner and yet I’m not always up for a last minute, spontaneous evening outing with the birdies either. But Chris came home early Friday night and suggested we grab some hot dogs, s’mores fixings, gin & tonics (you know, the basics…) and swim suits and drive out to Good Harbor Bay for the evening. Alright, let’s do it! So we rushed around to pack up beach, dinner, and bedtime stuff, which easily turns into a car full of about half the house. So. We eventually got out to Good Harbor and were immediately attacked by biting flies. Arrghh. On to spontaneous plan two.
At this point Wren is very hungry and annoyed that she has to get back in the car so I throw her an open package of graham crackers and we’re on our way. We head south down M-22 and I remember that there’s a great beach on Sleeping Bear Bay that I know as Thoreson Beach, although I really have no idea if it even has a name. So we got to “Thoreson Beach” and were greeted with wind, dark clouds and a looming storm in the distance, but no biting flies. After some discussion about how much time we had before the storm hit, we hauled the stuff down to the beach. As we were setting up, the storm clouds began to dissipate. And a magical evening was had.
Say yes to last minute ideas, lovelies. But don’t let your cell phone spontaneously swim. That, I learned, is really not a great idea.
Happy (official) summer, lovelies! Although the needle has hovered around summery temps off and on since March (!) this year, the summer solstice is upon us. Truth be told, summer is not my favorite season because I don’t fair very well in the heat, but I am planning on embracing it this year. Yes indeed. I have already run more miles in 90 degrees than I ever have so I feel like I’m ready for the heat. I still haven’t exactly figured out how to beach it with a toddler and sand-eating babe in tow, but I’m getting my head and heart wrapped around it. Our nest is in the market for a beach tent/canopy thingy right now. Taking recommendations! And ideas on how to make it work…
It was fun to revisit last year’s Summer List and think about where we were then and the season of life we’re in now. I had a growing baby bump and was still trying to wean Wren from her bedtime nursing. Wren was just two and so much has happened since then. For one, we’ve got this beautiful almost 8 month old with us now who loves to share her sister’s popsicles. And Wren’s bedtime nursing? She just gradually stopped on her own, maybe 4-5 months ago? Or maybe more. My sleep-deprived Mama brain can’t remember! Anyway, I’m glad there was no trauma involved and she weaned on her own. Phew. Now she’s a “big girl” of three with an insatiable appetite for watermelon.
So this year’s summer-with-two-birdies list? Here goes. Many are repeats because they’re just essential.
How about you, lovelies? What’s on your must-do summer list? Here’s to a wonderful summer filled with sprinklers, bubbles and sandy toes.
