Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it BLIZZARD!

Clearing the street s of downtown Bainbridge (Seattle style)

Minnesota born and raised, Namche feels quite at home (so does her buddy Kendall)

What a week! The weather here has been crazy and fun, but it sure does wreak havoc on plans. After about 10 inches of snow and cars careening off the roads left and right, Ianand I pulled the plug on our planned road trip down south and bought plane tickets yesterday for Southern Cal. We were planning to leave Saturday for the drive down in our VW bus, but that changed to drive down in a 4-wheel drive SUV, and now we're boarding a plane. Oh the travesty! The Pacific NW has been nailed with about 10+ inches of snow in the last week and streets are now ski and sledding hills. Kiera and Kendall had their skis and snowboards out last night in front of our house! We lost electricity so decided to come to my parents for the night and we leave early tomorrow for the airport. We'll spend Christmas with Ian's mom, Pam, and then take some time for fun in the sun before returning after New Years.

We want to take this time to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays. Be safe, stay warm, and enjoy time with family and friends.

Giving Thanks

It's been so long since I've written - something I said I wouldn't do if I started a "blog". Then I hesistate updating because I feel like I need to catch up on all I haven't written about and it feels daunting. So now I'm letting go of my little disorder about perfection and allowing myself to start again, right where we are. Wow, go CRAZY, Sara! (-:

We had a really nice Thanksgiving with some good friends of ours here on Bainbridge. Mom and Dad are with Grandma Rice in Chicago and Carla's family had guests from out of town, so we decided to stay put and spend the day with Shannon and Bruce Cohen and their kids, Emily and Alex; Shannon's brother Brian and wife Terri and two cute kids; and Terri's parents Maria and Day. Everyone brought a little something and it turned out perfectly! Bruce did the turkey on the grill, the kids played and sat in the hottub, and we all enjoyed a great afternoon and evening. We even got Ian and Bruce to play "BananaGrams", (word games are not their "thing"). But I did miss being with family... so Happy Thanksgiving everyone. We love you all.

Soccer and Sun!

We're back in the swing of things... it doesn't take long! Both Kiera and Kendall are playing soccer and that took up much of the past weekend. I'm not complaining; one of our favorite things to do is watch the girls in whatever activity they're doing at the time. Kendall is playing for the parks and rec league and is, as Kiera calls her, a "furious" player. She goes out there and gives it her all. She's got some good friends on the team so it's fun for all of us.

Kiera is playing for BIYSC which is a little more competitive. Soccer is by far Kiera's favorite sport and it's a blast to watch her and the team play. They've been together for 3 years and this year it is obvious that the strategy of the game is starting to make sense to them. Their coach is doing a great job teaching them positions and it's making them very hard to beat! No matter where the ball is, one of them is on it. Kiera has been put mostly in the midfield position so she covers most of the field and her speed comes in handy! I'd be tired after 3 minutes but those girls never stop and are getting in great shape.

Carla, Dave, Ellie and the dogs came over on Sunday to enjoy the beautiful day so we had Ellie kicking around the soccer ball as well. Ian and Dave played golf then we all came back to enjoy the sun and barbeque in the backyard. We've been having amazing weather (80 and sunny!) all this month so we are trying to take advantage of it as best we can. The girls are wearing shorts to school and coming home to a sunny afternoon in the yard so life is good! Thanks for checking in!

Meeting in the (midwest) Middle

My wonderful cousin Andy and his beautiful bride Yuliya gave us all a great excuse to get the Rice side of our family together this summer. They were married in Green Lake, WI at the Heidel House Resort on August 30th under the perfect afternoon sun with the sparkling blue lake as a backdrop. Yuliya is originally from Belarus and they met in Baraboo, Wisconsin where they both work and live. I am so happy for Andy. He is one my 7 cousins from my mom's side and we all grew up together and still see each other as often as we can, usually for weddings and family reunions. As we were growing up, my grandparents made sure our families got together often, so we all have strong, lasting relationships with each other ~ it's one of my grandparents' greatest gifts. To see Andy so happy with someone who clearly loves him so dearly... it was beautiful in every respect.



Kiera, Kendall and their cousins all had fun jumping off the dock at the lake. We also enjoyed renting jet skis and swimming in the pools. Andy and Yuliya could not have picked a more beautiful spot. We got there on Thursday the 28th after a fun trip on the train. We left Nantucket early Wednesday with my parents and the Milesi family, took the ferry to Hyannis, then a van to Boston. We got the on the Amtrak train and headed to Albany where we boarded another overnight train to Chicago. Ian and I really like to travel by train, thanks mostly to my dad who is obsessed with them. I honestly think he knows the schedule of all Amtrak trains on any route, by heart. The girls LOVE to go by train ~ we got settled into our room and headed to dinner. When we got back our beds were made up and they giggled together in the top bunk, reading, until I forced them to turn out the lights and watch the scenery go by as they fell asleep to the rocking of the train.
The above picture is me and my fun, loving cousin Heather. She is 10 years younger than me, but we've always had a special relationship ever since she was a toddler. I always love seeing her because she brings such warmth and a smile to my heart and we're always laughing at one thing or another (usually ourselves). I feel so fortunate to have such a great extended family. No matter how much time goes by, the closeness between us is still there.
This is mom sitting with my Grandma Rice. She and my grandpa are two of the most special people in the world to me. My grandma is 91, and we unfortunately lost my Grandpa six years ago. I admired him so much, and I still can feel his gentle love smiling down on us when we're all together. After we got off the train in Chicago, Kiera and I went with my mom to pick up Grandma and bring her to the wedding. Grandma still lives in her beautiful old farmhouse in Barrington, IL. It is a gorgeous piece of property with a horse barn, silo (which was featured on the Post cereal boxes a few (many?) years ago!) bull barn (where my mom held high-school dances!), tackroom, cow barn, pond, and acres and acres of land to run around and play. My brother, sister, cousins and I spent countless days here when we were growing up, and it probably could be rated as one of the best places to hold a game of "hide and seek". I was lost in memories while we were there, and it was so fun to show Kiera all the secret doors and ladders that zig-zagged throughout the large barns (which made it virtually impossible for anyone who was "it" to actually catch anyone). I was showing Kiera the lower part of barn in the above photo ~ she's standing next to one of the stalls, all which still have the names of my grandparent's past horses on them. Zarbour, T-bar, Wizard, Misty, Star (I learned to ride on Star), and this one is Sonny-Boy which is the horse my mom rode when she was young. It was incredibly meaningful for me to share this special place and it's memories with Kiera. She didn't want to leave, and neither did I.

Blue Fish? Blue Waves...

Kendall - going for the big blues!
Another fun day at Great Point - all worn out!

A view of our picturesque ride along the beach...

Another “early” morning and we’re out the door by 9:00(-: Today our destination was Great Point. It must be known that our time on Nantucket isn’t complete until we make our annual trip out to Great Point, a beautiful arc of sand extending out to the northeast tip of Nantucket. It is a 5 mile trip, each way, in the sand, and requires 4 wheel drive and tires lowered to about 12 psi (i.e. almost flat). If you try it any other way, you WILL get stuck. And kid you not, we have seen a car being washed away in the surf as high tide decided to eat it for dinner.

The morning goes something like this:

-Wake up and eat a quick breakfast (this takes about an hour for our group)
-While 8 people are trying to eat breakfast all in one kitchen, 3 of them are also trying to make sandwiches for 8 people, while also trying to figure out precise sandwich orders for 8 people.
-While ½ are trying to clean up the tornado of a mess just made in the kitchen, the other ½ are putting on suits and liberally applying sunscreen.
-Dad goes out to the garage and grabs all the fishing poles and tackle and places them in the front rod-rack on the jeep (VERY high clearance required for this setup on the roads and trees branches are injured during the trip)(oh, and we did once break a pole on a rather large, more stubborn branch)
-Everyone else is on a free-for all grabbing any and all other beach-related paraphernalia that can be found within the perimeter of the house: 16 towels (communication takes too much time so we all grab a few), 8 bottles of sunscreen (every level of protection), sweatshirts (for the chilly ride home at the end of the day), beach chairs(carefully bungeed behind the rod-rack), sand toys, 1-2 books each (never to be read), sunglasses, flip-flops, bucket (for the many bluefish we are sure to catch – but haven’t brought one home in ??? years), drinks, Cape Cod chips (the more bags the better), cookies and grapes (warm, melted and squished by 2:00 but who cares), kadema paddles, umbrella, beach tent, and 3 boogies boards.
-We hop in the loaded down cars and… someone forgot something… just a sec…
-Take two: We hop in the loaded down cars, fill up tanks with the most expensive gas in America, and drive out to Wauwinet and the Nantucket Conservation Foundation booth to purchase our yearly “oversand vehicle permit”, which are slowly but surely replacing the paint job on the fender of our jeep and Escape.
-All of us jump out of our respective doors like an Indy 500 team, grab a rock, and use it to deflate the nearest tire, while one hangs back to check the pressure as we go.
-We hop back in (or “on” as is the case with the jeep for the kids) and begin our beautiful drive out through the thick Nantucket sand to the lighthouse and the point. Paradise.

Now, Ian claims we have not caught a bluefish off the shore since he’s been in the picture, and we’ve been together for 15 years. I find that hard to be true, but unfortunately he might be right. Regardless, each year we think we’re going to bring one home (it was much more common 16 years ago, I think Ian jinxed us!) and our optimism keeps us casting. My dad is the hardiest fisherman and walks miles of shoreline following the diving birds. I usually just sit on my beach towel or swim with the girls until the birds start diving in front of me, or someone else gets one on… then I’m there! I spent at least an hour today and the birds were diving like crazy. People were catching blues on either side of us but we still came up empty. Kendall was even casting for them… again, what a sight. This little 6 year old girl with a pole 3 times her height, casting it out about 75 yards all on her own. And this is a spinning reel!

We had a great time playing in the surf, watching seals swim by, and as always, enjoyed each others company. And we might not have had bluefish for dinner, but we did enjoy delicious seafood at the Lobster Trap that evening, followed by ice-cream at the Juice Guys. Sweet, sweet summer!!

Lemonade, anyone?

The girls decided to have their first lemonade stand today. After breakfast we immediately started baking sugar cookies and stirring up a huge batch of lemonade, and the 3 girls got out paper and markers and started working on their sign. Poppy didn’t think two sheets of paper was big enough, so he hunted down a huge white cardboard box from the garage and they did it up right with a free-standing sign that was sure to catch everyone’s attention! Kiera thought we should charge 10 cents per glass, but we assured her that 25 cents would still be the cheapest glass of lemonade and cookie on Nantucket. The going rate is closer to $1.00, but we couldn’t do that out of principle. They also charged 25 cents for a squirt from their squirt gun, but we decided we’d do that for free with a purchase (-; We had a few takers, but most of the water was used on each other; Kendall was soaked an hour into it.

We set up shop on the corner of Madaket Road and Cambridge, right on the bike path, and quickly had our first of many happy customers. My parents house is right near the end of the 6 mile ride out from town, so it was a perfect place to be and we met lots of nice people. After paying back their banker (poppy), the girls each had a profit of $10 so they felt great about that and are anxious to go to town for find their souvenirs.

We rode our bikes down to the beach that afternoon, loaded with towels, drinks, and kadema paddles. The girls are getting so used to the water and waves now and it’s fun to watch them. Kiera is especially having a great time in the waves and she looks like a seal out there, diving through the surf and riding in the waves. She stays out there hours at a time and only comes in to flash me her beautiful smile and remind me to keep watching her (no book reading for this mom).

The rest of the crew came down in the jeep after Ellie woke up and brought the boogie boards, so Dave took Kiera and Kendall out in the surf and they all were riding waves together for the rest of the afternoon.

Carla made us a delicious dinner of homemade salsa and chicken enchiladas while I sat and chatted with my dad on the deck. We eat like royalty out here and still all have turns to relax since everyone takes their turn cooking and cleaning. Works well for me (especially tonight!).

Coatue or Bust!

We had another perfect day today. After breakfast we left around 9am and took our neighbor’s kayak to Nantucket Harbor for a day out on Coatue. It is a spit of land across from Nantucket town that is only accessible by boat or a four wheel drive vehicle at low tide via Great Point. If you want privacy in the summer, that’s where you go! We rented two more kayaks from “Sea Nantucket” so we had a small fleet among us. Carla, Dave and Ellie were in the Stott’s boat, Mom and Dad in a double, and Kiera, Kendall and I shared a double with a third seat. Kendall helped me paddle on the way over and she sure did her fair share of the work while Kiera dangled her feet and arms off the front of the boat and enjoyed the peaceful ride. We paddled in perfect unison and worked well together as a team so it was fun! She told me on the way out, “That’s okay mom, you don’t have to paddle. I can take care of it”. Soooo Kendall…and the truth is, she probably could!

We brought a picnic lunch and our Quohog license so we spent the day out in the shallow waters digging our toes in the sand looking for dinner and collecting scallop shells. It’s something to get used to since you’ll occasionally feel a nibble on your toes from little fish or crabs so the girls preferred the shore or the safety of the kayak while the adults searched for the quohogs. Dad was the hero today, and he supplied us with about 30 quohogs to go with our lobster dinner that evening!

On the way back we had a bit of an adventure. The girls and I were paddling back through the moored boats and saw some kids on their blaster behind their boat. Somehow the blaster got untied and the current quickly took the 4 of them away from their moored boat. Fortunately,they reacted quickly and grabbed the next buoy about 75 yards away from their boat, but they were definitely in a predicament. The mom was very worried and still on their boat so we yelled and asked if she wanted help. We paddled over to the buoy and were somewhat relieved when one of the “kids” was the dad, but none of them were wearing life jackets. The current was too strong for him to swim back or for me to tow them back, and the mom did not know how to drive the boat over, so we took on a 4th passenger and brought the dad back to their boat while my parents stayed with the kids on the buoy in their kayak. The dad was then able to drive the boat back over to the buoy and pick up the kids. Needless to say they were very thankful and the mom was a bit shaken, but they all got back on the boat safely. If it hadn’t been for that buoy they happened to float by, they would have been all the way to Monomoy in about 5 minutes and I don’t know what the mom would have done! It sure says something for life jackets though, and I hope their kids always have them on next time.

We slowly caught up to Carla and Dave and found Ellie asleep in their kayak – the full day and the lull of the paddles and water was too much for her. She looked pretty happy and comfortable! So was I. We headed home to a beautiful Madaket sunset, and ended our day of utopia with fresh lobster and crabcakes from Sayles and steamed quohogs from Coatue.

Beach Bums

Ellie officially has her sea legs as of today. We went down to Tristram’s Beach to help my parents with their morning beach cleanup. After helping for about 20 minutes, all three girls quietly migrated closer and closer to the water and waves. Before we knew it, skirts and shorts were wet, and guess who was right in the midst of it all? Yes, little Ellie was hopping those waves with the best of them. We decided we needed to finish up and head back home to get our suits on and take full advantage of what was promising to be a beautiful day.

Kendall was fun to watch today. Her spirit and drive always make me smile and laugh and today was a perfect example of that. Whenever I want a buddy with me for just about anything, Kendall’s up for it, and I love that about her. We rode our bikes to the beach this morning and part of the ride is pretty hard since we have to go through thick sand. But Kendall, with her little legs and short bike, was determined. She didn’t quite make it and the bike ended up on top of her, but she grumbled for onlya few seconds, got up, and with a face more mad than hurt, pushed on through and made it to the beach with her strong legs going a mile a minute.

Same with the boogie board. She and Kiera spent hours today on the boogie boards and even though the boards ended up hitting the beach before they did half the time (they were lost under the surf), they would get up, grab the board, and run right back in for the next one. It’s fun to watch.

Carla’s husband, Dave, arrived this evening so Ellie is thrilled to have her missing piece here. We’re looking forward to our kayak trip to Coatue tomorrow. Our biggest decision of the evening is what kind of sandwiches to order from Something Natural tomorrow morning. .

Bicycles & Ice-Cream

My dad and I woke up this morning at 6:00 for our first attempt at riding around the whole island. This is a 30 mile ride to town, ‘Sconset, Polpis, back to town and then to Madaket again. Now, my brother does this practically every morning when he’s here, after making himself a healthy fruit smoothie (I wouldn’t be surprised if he threw in a raw egg as well). He makes it look effortless. Me? Not so much. But we made it and it felt great so we’re feeling pretty good about that. Nantucket has great bike paths throughout the island, which makes it a fun way to get around. I was thinking as we were riding that it was 30 years ago that I made my first ride out to Madaket from the ferry. I was 9 and our family came over here from the Vineyard for the day. There were no bike paths, only a narrow road that was shared by a multitude of bikes, cars, and mopeds. It was a long ride for us kids, but the reward of Madaket Beach was worth it, and we were sold on Nantucket as a place to return to for many years to come.

After a fairly quick trip into town for our preliminary t-shirt/ sweatshirt/ hat / etc, etc, etc. shopping, we headed home to stormy skies and a quiet afternoon with mom making some delicious homemade strawberry ice-cream. We’re spoiled. But everyone deserves to be spoiled once in awhile, right?

Madaket Harbor

I think I need to somehow get Ellie to be at our house when school starts to get the girls up and out of bed. Even after only 4 hours of sleep, Ellie can go climb up on Kiera’s bed and say “wake up Kia” and she’s out of bed in less than 30 seconds! Today we took advantage of our neighbor’s offer to use their kayak, and threw it on top of the jeep and took it to Madaket Harbor. After a little coaxing, we got Ellie to put on her new life jacket and hop into the kayak for her first ride. First we had K&K get in with Carla to show her how fun it is, and then we asked if she wanted a turn and she hesitantly said “yes”. I think we’ve got her hooked so we plan to take her across Nantucket Harbor over to Coatue in a few days- it’s a great place to get Quahogs.

40th Pole

I love waking up here. Even if we have no plans, I always know the day is going to be perfect when I wake up with the morning sun shining into the beautiful room I’m staying in. Mom and Dad went off to church so Carla and I decided to take the girls in the jeep to Bartlett Farms to load up on fresh island fruit and veggies. Everything looks so good it’s hard not to get two carts!

Even though Ellie did great at Tristram’s beach yesterday, we decided to head to the north side today and go to the 40th pole for some calmer waters. We took a picnic lunch and the boogie boards and paddle balls and spent the afternoon swimming, playing and reading… such a hard life!

After getting back and showered, Dad went with Carla and Kendall on the bikes to get a newspaper at the Westender Market – Kendall has two speeds, “on” and “off” and she’s always up for anything, it’s one of the many things I love about her – and we had another relaxing evening here eating pasta with fresh veggies from Bartlett’s.

Grey Lady

One of my favorite site- being greeted by Grammie and Poppy at the ferry terminal

Kendall showing her boogie board "stuff" at the beach - she's fearless.

Kiera and Ellie in the cab from the rental car to the ferry in Hyannis after 4 hrs of sleep - they were troopers this trip!

Waving "hello" to Grammie and Poppy as the ferry pulls in!

We made it to Nantucket! The girls and I are here with Carla, Ellie, mom and dad for the next 10 days and we’re loving it. It took a bit of effort to get here this year. Carla and I flew in with the girls on Friday and got stopped in our tracks at the Newark airport. Our 5:00 flight was cancelled due to thunderstorms and tornados and we weren’t going to be able to take another flight until Saturday night, so we made the decision to rent a car and drive to Hyannis and get a ferry in the morning. We got into Hyannis at 2 a.m. and had 4 hours of sleep before heading to the ferry, but it was all worth it once we got here. Mom and Dad were waiting at the Hyline ferry terminal with smiles and waves and it was all good!

After unpacking and having a quick lunch on Saturday, we got our suits on and headed down to Tristram’s beach; Kendall, mom, and I on bikes and Carla, Dad, Ellie, and Kiera in the jeep. The waves were perfect and it didn’t take the girls long to get used to the boogie boards again. Kiera and I had fun with paddle ball but both agree we can only improve as the week goes on. Ellie, slowly but surely, got used to the big waves and had fun playing in the “bath tub” that K&K made for her.

Mom made delicious salmon burgers for us and I started the first evening of our trip off right with a gin and tonic on the deck. The long trip, fresh air, and running on the beach did little Kendall in and she was asleep 5 minutes after we put in a movie that night (Ellie made it longer than she did!). All is good when we’re in Nantucket, and life couldn’t be better!

Orcas Island

Ian and the 3 girls enjoying the view (and fresh fruit!) in Eastsound
Me and the girls on Sunrise Peak - just up from our campsite
My own personal sous chef, and his goofy boss! Mmmmm!

Our little spot, our little bus, and her BIG hula-hoop earrings!Namche getting a bath and drink after a long hike.
Kiera and Kendall feeding deer at Rosario Resort

Well, I guess my "next island" didn't turn out to be the Galapagos - we stayed a little closer to home and just returned last night from our camping trip to Orcas Island. We stayed at Moran State Park in a little spot right on Cascade Lake. It was a perfect 4 days, and the extra bonus was that on this camping trip we didn't have to be towed into our campsite like last time (I'll fill you in on that story later)!

We left on Sunday morning at 8:00 and arrived in Port Townsend in time for the 9:30 ferry to Keystone (Whidbey Island). We drove up Whidbey over Deception Pass (another great camping spot!) and got to Fauntleroy in time for the 11:50 ferry to Orcas. Kendall was happy that the Orcas ferry was a "full grown ferry" as opposed to the smaller one from Port Townsend, which did not have a cafeteria (and hence the giant pretzels).

The scenery up in the San Juans is amazing and if you haven't been there I suggest you put it on your list of places to go. This was our first time up in that area and we were not disappointed. Orcas Island is one of 4 island in the San Juans that the ferry stops at (the rest are either uninhabited or accessible only by private boat or plane) and it's one big giant beautiful rock with 5 lakes, farms, quiet inlets, a charming town, and madrona trees greeting you at the ferry landing. It has the highest point of all the islands - Mt. Constitution at 2,400 ft - and the view from the top is 360 degrees and breathtaking. We could see all of the surrounding islands, Mt. Baker, and even Mt. Rainier in the distance. It was hard to take our eyes away from the scenery.

We camp in our '76 VW bus (we spent one night debating what to name it - I think we're going with "Daisy", with some understandable hesitation from Ian) and I must say we're all getting used to camping together and have found that we share responsibilites well. I asked Kiera what her favorite thing was about camping and she said, "working - keeping the camp organized". I love it because I never have to cook! Ian and the girls make all the meals while I relax, and I do cleanup with some help from Namche (yes, this dog has the good life and gets all the leftovers!). We all fit surprisingly well in our little green bus. It has a pop-up so two of us sleep up there, and the other two are on the pullout in the back. Namche even squeezes in on the floor. The girls each have cubbies that they pack with their clothes and books, and Ian and I share the little closet.

We arrived at our campsite around 1:30 on Sunday and spent the afternoon setting up camp and exploring the area. The girls brought their bikes and rollerblades and had fun riding around the circle near our campsite. We were right on the shores of Cascade lake (site #12, but we'd recommend site #9 if you can get it) and found we had a little beach all to ourselves, which made Namche very happy too since she could swim practically whenever she wanted. Ian and the girls made chicken/tofu stir fry for dinner and we toasted marshmallows/ smores before heading to bed.

On Monday we decided to walk to the State Park Beach which was about a mile hike along the park trails. It is a cute little beach that reminded me of the state parks in Minnesota. The girls and Ian took a quick swim, but since Namche wasn't allowed in the water we didn't stay long and decided to head back to our campsite. We have a small raft/ boat which we took out in the lake - Kiera spotted a rock on the other shore so she and I paddled with our hands over to the rock and she climbed victoriously up on top before we headed back. That afternoon we decided to see what the little town on Eastsound was like. It's right on the water and we found a fruit stand where we bought fresh cherries, raspberries, blackberries and blueberries and they were delicious! The girls decided we needed to top it off with ice-cream. The closest thing we found was Gelatto and Kiera declared that she prefers the "regular ice-cream made with cream" rather than Gelatto which is made with whole milk. On the way back we decided to drive up Mt. Constitution to see the view and learn some hisotry of the island.

We got a late start on Tuesday, seeing that Kiera and I slept until 9:45!! Yep, we're on vacation! We had a quick breakfast and then decided to take a hike to Cascade Falls. After some grumbling from the girls about being tired, we made it and they both agreed that the hike was well worth it. Namche ran up to the bottom of the falls to take a drink then decided she'd just go ahead and lie down in the pool of water and drink while cooling off. We got back and went for a swim at our beach before heading out to take a look around the island some more. We found ourselves at Rosario Resort which is the former estate of Robert Moran. He was the gentleman who donated the 3700 acres which is now the state park. The girls had a special unexpected treat while here. The deer at Rosario are partially domesticated and we were able to feed them apples from the tree. After a few games of tetherball and a walk around the grounds we decided to head back. However Kendall had other plans and talked us into stopping at the State Park beach for an evening swim before we went home. It turned out to be a great idea and we ended up staying until nearly 8:00 - it was a beautiful, perfect summer evening and none of us wanted it (or our trip) to end. The girls swam in the lake while the sun went down and all I could think of was that this is what summers are supposed to feel like and I am so happy and feel so fortunate that we are able to have these memorable experiences together.

Here it goes...

I've decided to start a blog. Not because I'm dying for everyone to know everything about me and my family, but because I selfishly want a diary, of sort, for our family to look back at to remember things as they were. Time goes by too fast, and our kids are already 9 and 6, and I want to document things more as they happen. It will also be a great way to share our lives with our families who do not live near us but want to be kept up on what's going on. I've written numerous emails to grandparents, aunts, and siblings with details and pictures; I finally discovered that blogging can do the same thing, but with the added bonus of safe keeping it all for ourselves.

So, here you go. Come visit as often as you'd like and I'll try my best to keep things going and post things often enough to keep it interesting.

Here it goes....