Summer Nights

One of my favourite things to do after the kids have gone to bed, is to sit on the patio. The weather cools down once the sun sets, but with a blanket, it's perfect. It's quiet. It's dark enough that candles don't seem out of place, but not dark enough to be depressing (winter). The geraniums are still blooming beautifully. A vanilla earl grey latte and I'm set.

Thoughts

"You can't just do what you feel like. You need to do what you know you should do."

Canoeing

Shapes

It's no secret that I'm no nature girl. However, I do find it cool when I discover neat shapes that are found randomly in nature.

Summer Fun

Despite all the new technology and gadgets and gizmos, one of the best toys of all time is water. Water in the sprinkler, water in the bathtub, water in a water table. This is the first year that Matias has asked for a sprinkler to run through. I love that I used to run through sprinklers myself. Some things never get old...

Sisters

I have a brand new sister-in-law: Mimmi. (She's the one wearing the wedding dress) My brother Tim and her got married last Saturday. It was so nice that the whole family (fourteen of us) was able to travel to Finland for the wedding.

So, that now brings the total of this sisterhood to five. We're very different, but we get along great. Like all families, we have our moments: disagreements, awkwardness, misunderstandings. But, all in all, I can't imagine anyone that would complete this sisterhood more perfectly than these ladies. I am blessed.

Strawberries and Cream

One of the many things that mark summer for me are fresh strawberries. Add a little whipped cream with cinnamon sugar on top and I'm in heaven! Unfortunately, I have found in recent years that local strawberries no longer taste as sweet as they used to. In fact, the California berries in big plastic containers taste way better. I wonder why? Maybe it's the rainy, cold springs here? The strawberries do kind of taste like mud...I like to eat local produce, but in this case, it's gonna be Californian or nothing!