This Evening

Tonight, as we have all week, we headed over to the neighbors house to take care of their gardens. Once the watering was done and the blackberries were checked on (and taste tested) we gathered up the ripe veggies and headed back up to the house. Thank goodness for skirts, as I had not grabbed a bowl before we left our place and had far more to carry back than we could have carried! xo

In Our Garden

This garden of ours continues to impress us as no other vegetable garden that we have had in the past has! It's so full and lush, and each day seems to yield more items than we were expecting. The cherry tomatoes and snap peas are being eaten about as quickly as they are ripening, and we have our first red slicing tomato. too! The cucumbers are out of control this year, and Dave and I have chatted about giving them something to climb next year. It would be lovely to get them off the ground and not have so many vines to move out of the way of other plants. The two sweet sunflowers are just such a lovely dollop of yellow against all the green leaves of this lush garden of ours. The potatoes are going along beautifully too, though our harvesting of them is clearly still a ways off yet. We discovered our first butternut and acorn squashes the other day! I had forgotten we had planted both types! Our sweet piggie Ginger is loving the garden, and we are loving that it's fenced in so she can be out with us without making a mad dash to get under the rhododendron bush! That piggie sure can run fast when she wants to! There's talk of adding a fourth raised bed for next year, and maybe a nicer fence and an archway over the gate for Grace's Morning Glories to climb. They are just starting to climb up the fence, but I can already tell that they are going to make this space even more enchanted than it already feels! xo

Another Glorious Day

Another week of swimming lessons, another gorgeous week at the lake! The weather this summer has been truly fabulous! xo

Sunday Smiles: At The Circus

It seems to be that catching the Circus Smirkus show while it's in town has become a bit of a tradition for us each summer. Today was our third Smirkus show and I do think it's safe to say it's one of our favorites (the first one that we saw-back in 2012- was our most favorite of the three we've now seen). The amount of talent that the troupers posses really is incredible! When it comes to circus arts these kids set the bar super high, and this year was surely no exception. The hard work that the kids and staff put into this show was totally evident (it always is). It's amazing what they can accomplish in the three weeks they have in Vermont before they hit the road for the rest of the summer! The girls have hopes of attending Smirkus Camp someday soon (we had tried to get them in for this summer but everything was full from the minute registration opened), and I know that they hope to be able to be part of the traveling troupe one day too. What an amazing experience that would be! xo

After the show with the Sea Queen. 

A Surprise For Grace And Emma

Yesterday we decided to surprise the girls with a trip to Build-A-Bear to build Ponies. We had walked by many times but had never really gone in (well not much farther than the front display of the store where the Ponies usually are, anyway). Not being a family that's big on stuffed animals I don't think they thought that these Ponies would ever be a reality for them. It was while we were considering gifts for Grace's recent birthday that we decided it would be fun to take both girls to build a Pony. We decided that rather than pair this adventure with Grace's birthday that we wait and take them sometime after her birthday had passed. Yesterday felt like the right time to surprise them with this so off we went! 

There smiles truly say it all! They were totally stunned when they saw where our adventure was! Truly, I don't think they believed this was really happening until we took the above picture of them and they were leaving the store with their Ponies in their boxes. Fluttershy and Rarity have not left their sides ever since and I imagine they will be constant companions for many moons to come! xo

{This Moment} Among The Blueberries

{This Moment} - A Soule Mama Friday ritual. A single  photo - no words- capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you are inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments section for all to find and see. We wish you a wonderful weekend! xo

Summer Soul Camp

We are so excited to attending Summer Soul Camp hosted by Heather over at Beauty that Moves. When I first read about Camp I knew that I had to be a part of it! It just sounded truly delightful and like something that I simply had to experience. Little did I know that there would be a family option as well (what a lovely surprise)! 

The Day One materials arrived and I found myself lost in Heather's beautiful words and pictures. First up creating a mantra and a vision board. The mantra took a little time to decide upon as there were simply too many thoughts swirling around, and so much of what was being shared in the Facebook group was just so good that I kept thinking "wow, I like that one! Wish I had thought of that!" Thanks to a postcard I saw at Target our mantra was decided -Be Happy, Be Bright, Be You. We still have yet to create our vision board but at least we got the mantra figured out! 

The Day Two materials arrived and they were just as lovely as the first.  Our task this day was to set up camp. We needed to find a space to claim for the rest of camp (though I have a feeling that it will last well beyond). A space where we could just go and be. We knew that this space needed to be outside and it was quickly decided that the front porch made sense. This way we could be outside and leave our campsite set up regardless of the weather. We considered many tables and then finally settled on the one you see above. It's the girls table from the back deck and it works just perfectly for our campsite! A tablecloth was chosen, as was a vase for the flowers that we picked up from the farm on our way home from the lake. Candles we selected, as were books and magazines, and Grace's new card game. The "above all be kind" plaque just pulled it all together.

And no sooner were we done setting up our campsite than the girls settled in for some creating and reading and snacking. We have always loved this porch but seeing this space set up like that has made us all love it even more!

Thank you, Heather, for the gift of this camp experience! We are having the best time and cannot wait to see what else is in store! xo

Wordless Wednesday::Summer Nature Table

Little Knitters

In through the front door, 

Around the back,
Out through the window,
Off jumps Jack! 

-Traditional knitting verse

Thanks to this verse (and the advice of seasoned knitting teachers to cast on for them) the girls quickly picked up the knit stitch on Saturday. Watching how easily they picked this new skill up made me wish that I had learned to knit at their age. Their hands seemed to instinctively know just what to do. They were so super proud of each stitch that they made and just smiled from ear to ear at the completion of each row. Sure, there were mistakes here and there, but it was truly was a great beginning! My hope is that when we had to Florida next month that we'll be spending a good portion of the flight to and from (and downtime throughout the week) knitting. Now to just get my knitting to be a wee bit ahead of theirs so that I can continue to help them as they learn! xo

Swimming Lessons And Parakeets

 And so began another year of swimming lessons! Just like that the first day of the much looked forward to lessons arrived and they were off meeting their teacher and the other kids in their class. 

 Lunch after lessons sporting the new hooded towels from Gramma!

 And then what should we spot on the beach but a Parakeet! The poor thing was so confused (and so was everyone else). 

It perched on this shoe for a bit before going under a picnic table. It flew over to the fence just before one of the lifeguards could scoop it up. We left shortly after that so we have no idea how this story ended. We do so hope that they were able to get the bird and find its owner. xo

Blueberry Day

 Saturday morning found us in the blueberry fields bright and early. We love to get there early, before the crowds arrive and have this peaceful place to ourselves. We were very charmed by these dew covered blueberries. Simply magical. 

 The serious look on her is due to a mouth full of berries! 

 "Mama, take a picture of this big berry!"

 Emma always finds the most interesting places for her bucket. 

It was another gorgeous day at the farm. The weather was simply perfect and the bushes were covered in berries! We've got three trays of them frozen and waiting to be placed in freezer bags for the winter. Perhaps, we'll head back for one more tray. Or perhaps we won't. Either way we will surely enjoy these delicious berries- these little bits of summer- all winter long! xo