85 Days of Summer: Vacation!

This week (days15 to 21) was our big summer family getaway vacation at our friends' cabin (and our old home) in Northern Vermont, just across the border from the town in New Hampshire where Skye grew up. It was not quite a peaceful as I had hoped (the kids have been crazy lately and the calm and quiet didn't help things too much...) and it was colder than most summer vacations but we had a lovely time nonetheless. Just look at everything we did!

the house on Baptist Hill, where we lived until Lil was 3

we explored the amazing natural world around us

we saw some old friends

we had a fire every night and roasted countless marshmallows

sparklers, too
we went swimming despite the cold

we relaxed, made art and played games

we went out on the town

we took a walk down the road to a favorite old cemetary

Skye and I have been enjoying a restful few days without the kids--they're with their grandparents in NH until Wednesday night! This is the vacation we've really been needing. Though I really do miss my kiddos ;)

Thursday Thrifting

We found all of these treasures during a quick Saturday morning run-through of area garage sales before taking off for vacation...

a vintage movie projector!

A real silver screen...

...the perfect frame for some art!

pretty vintage kids book

adorable canisters that were made for my kitchen ;)

we can never have too much non-plastic food storage!

such a pretty milk glass mug

three enameled mugs for camping

a whole mess of vintage buttons!

85 Days of Summer

Summer Week #2 and we're still going strong!

On Monday we spent a bit of time outside, including some outdoor painting time.

Tuesday was a busy day with lots to get done, errands to run, and lots of folks in town for NADEC at the Free School. I resurrected the kids' play kitchen with some long-needed repairs and it kept them busy for hours.

Wednesday was my first day of watching Trixie, one of Lyric's bffs. I'll be watching her a couple of days a week for much of the summer. These two crack me up. (Again, the play kitchen. How did we survive while it was out of commission?)

On Thursday we had a friend over and took advantage of the delayed rain by having a picnic in the People's Park behind our house.

We went to the library on Friday to round up lots of books for vacation. My kids are both way into graphic novels. Me too!

On Saturday our family gathered at my brother's house to have dinner with my visiting Grandpa who regaled us with stories of bringing farm animals to weddings. So funny.

And here we are on Sunday, loading up for our week away from it all in the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont! We're all really looking forward to this chance to unplug, get away from all of our day-to-day worries and spend some time alone as a family. See you next week!!

Thursday Thrifting

The addiction continues...

more typewriters

just like the one I remember as a kid

vintage yellow pyrex bowl, filled briefly with roadside blackberries

the perfect stamped embroidery piece for Lil, with pouch

soon, I hope, this wall will be covered with pieces of embroidery!

It ain't a school, it ain't free

A few of you have been asking about the Free School, where Tige and Lyr go. I intend to write a post about our experience there but until then I thought this would sum it up for you, sung by a great guy and Free School parent. (Look for Lyric hanging on the jungle gym in the background!)

85 Days of Summer

Here we are, one week in! It's been a busy one...

On Monday we spent some time at a local orchard, picking strawberries and feeding the animals.

On Tuesday we walked up a couple of blocks to visit the State Museum. We saw our favorite exhibits, rode the carousel, got a hot dog from the cart outside and took a stroll through a newly renovated cathedral on the way home. The kids finished out the day with a bike ride with Dad before bed.

On Wednesday the weather was pretty icky so we stuck around the house, did some painting, read some books, watched Ponyo, and made ricotta gnocchi for dinner. Yum!

On Thursday we did a bunch of errands and played outside a bit.

On Friday we took Skye to work, hung out at Grammy's a bit, and played outside at Uncle Jim's. Lyric loves the forest of blueberries!

On Saturday we went thrifting in the morning, took a bike ride along the river and ended the day with dinner with some great friends.

On Sunday we went out to Grammy and Grandpa's for a Father's Day celebration with my brothers and their families. Unfortunately Lyric kept losing steam until he was deemed officially feverish. This kid never gets sick and I imagine he'll be good as new in the morning but for now I'm enjoying the cuddling!

Summer officially begins tomorrow--here's to a summer full of new experiences and hopefully at least a little bit of relaxing!!