soakin' it in

just a few shots from the beach, where we played in the water with dolphins, buried ourselves (ok, that was really just him), and finished off the day with an ice cream shake from rubys.

busy doing nothing

just wanted to acknowledge our absence around here.  apparently, summer vacation keeps us busier than usual.  doing what?  i really don't know.



i do know what we aren't doing.  we aren't rushing through our evenings doing homework, we aren't getting dressed bright and early, or sticking to a schedule.  rules about not snacking before dinner and what technically constitutes "dinner" are being broken pretty regularly.

i have learned a few things in the past 2 weeks of vacation though.  i've learned that the joy my punk gets from being allowed to take a huge cowboy rifle on evening walks with us (so he can keep us safe from invisible enemies) outweighs the questioning looks i get from other adults along our path.  i now know that a medium pizza is no longer enough to feed the two of us.  i know that i can handle "boy" issues without batting an eyelash.  and I'm learning that ice cream helps me get through watching "spy kids" for the 500th time.

i've also learned that when my punk wakes up before me, he comes to kiss me softly while he thinks i don't know.

this summer is off to a beautiful start!

painted ladies

a few weeks ago, we acquired a few caterpillars.  our first painted lady butterfly has emerged!





we held her, studied her, and then when she was ready, she flew from us to some of our flowers.  she spent about half an hour touring our patio and then off she went!