I just have random bits to share today and I am hoping this 'soup' won't be too bland. Let's see what I can cook up...
I finally snapped a photo of a sampling from our
'five gallon garden'. The cherry tomatoes have been the most successful this summer but they tend to get gobbled up so quickly that getting a shot of them has been tough. Aren't they gorgeous? We lost a pepper plant along the way and the cucumber kind of fizzled out unfortunately. But what remains is more than we had last year so I shouldn't complain.
And this, friends, is the latest love letter I have received from Vince.
Isn't it romantic? I mentioned the other day that I might be contemplating digging my bike out and dusting it off. Before I knew it he had done just that
and equipped it with new gear shifters, reflectors
and a bell. Oh, and a cute pair of riding gloves were presented as well. Vince is over the moon that I might be taking up something that he loves. It seemed a little odd to me until I realized that if he suddenly said he wanted to take up embroidery I would probably outfit him with a
flossbox, needles and hoops so fast his head would spin. That would never happen of course but it puts his enthusiasm in perspective for me.
In other randomness I really have been playing catch up this week.
Running errands and cleaning have been popular activities. Recently it has also struck me how quickly Summer is going by and I suddenly feel an urge to make sure we do some of the fun things I hoped we would do over Summer break. So, a trip to a
museum, a bookstore, and the splash park, as well as some family bike rides have all made our week a bit more adventurous - more like the Summer I
hoped we would have. There is still so much I want us to do over the next few weeks. I always get worried this time of year that Summer vacation will be a
disappointment for my kids - isn't that ridiculous? I suppose when the boredom starts to hit
(and it has hit - hard) I worry that I haven't spent enough quality time with my boys.
Silly, I know. On that note let me share
this article I recently read in Newsweek about creativity. After reading it, it's easy to see how boredom can be a blessing in disguise - making way for a lot of creative exploration. I thought this article was
fascinating. The authors, Po Bronson and Ashley
Merryman also wrote
Nurtureshock: New Thinking About Children ,which I am currently reading, so I was excited when I happened upon this article. So far this book has been a real eyeopener - lots of things we assume about kids get turned upside down here and it's been so interesting to read about the research behind it.
Well, I promised randomness and I certainly delivered, didn't I? And not a single stitch to share *sigh*. I'd like to close with a big huge 'thank you' to the one or two people who have read this far. Please feel free to share you own boredom busting ideas and/or any great books you have read this Summer - I would love to hear about both!
We packed our car to the absolute hilt then headed out to Platte River State Park for three days of fishing, hiking, bike riding, swimming, horseback riding (oops - changed our minds on that one), and general downtime.
Turns out 6 and a half years old is a perfect age for these activities. 2 and a half, however, struggled a little bit more. If we somehow could have coaxed him into just one nap during the trip we might have fared better. Oh well. I'm 100% positive that everyone had a good time so that's all that matters in the end.
My favorite part of the trip were the hikes. We even made a friend or two along the way...
Oh, I almost forgot...
We couldn't leave without a trip down the road from our cabin to the craft center. I made a leather bracelet and felt like I was ten years old again, it was awesome. 
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