To Answer Your Question

Just in case 

you ever wondered if it was time to visit California

(Jackie, Kathi, Melissa, Sarah, Ellen, Amanda, Caroline, Heidi)..........

The answer is YES. 

 Yes, it is.

And the Holman Family B&B would be happy to receive you,

 as long as you don't mind that all of us would be sharing one bathroom. 

Snowflower Campground (A Forgotten Summer Photo Album)

This post was in my draft folder,

 forgotten along with hot summer days.

A camping trip last summer, 

a forgotten post of a much loved trip

It is crisp in my memory...

The smell of bacon and pancakes, and the song of hungry, waiting blue jays.

Sweet morning faces, puffy eyed, froggy voiced.

Fishing with pancake scraps,

trying a thousand times,

to finally catch one little fish,

then let him go.

Dirty faces,

 stick dolls,

and the perfect walking stick.

Forts,

hideouts,

and mayhem?!

Of course not!

It's pretty amazing what a teenager will do if you unplug them.

If you have ever asked yourself "Can a 5 year old splash too much?"

The answer is a certified no.

Sweet, baby feet, and chubby fingers. 

 When you are two, pine needles are "shishies" you can actually catch.

And even sweeter memories. 

But the best memories have no pictures to go with them.  

They were ones out under the stars,

 in the quiet and still;

The children content, safe and asleep,

 the moon shining off the lake,

 the stars outlining the black pine trees,

 and me resting in my sweetie's arms.

Fleeting

It seems like Summer just arrived with her straw hat and flip flops on, knocking at my door asking us to come out and play, and already I look over my shoulder and see that she is packing her beach bag and folding up her picnic blanket. How dare she!  She always does this to me.  She knows it takes me a while to find my Fun Mom suit under all the laundry, and put it on.  

The other night the kids asked if I would take them swimming next door.  It was 512 degrees out, and I didn't want to go, but I saw Summer roll her eyes at me, so I said yes.  

As always happens, I loosened up once I got there, enjoying watching the kids in the water with their little sis.  Jonah was tickled that Betty had the sprinter on, a sighting as rare as Sasquatch these days, and he couldn't decide if it was more fun to run in the sprinkler or swim, so he ping-ponged between the two.

Nano to grew cold and got out of the pool to sit by me, bundled in her little frog towel.  She snuggled deeply at my hip, chattering away like a little chickadee, and just as easy to understand.  Her suit soaked through the towel and my pants, the feeling a cross between refreshingly cool and annoyingly wet.  With my reading glasses on I looked down at her little face tucked beneath my wing and noticed a spray of tiny freckles on her cheeks that I've never seen there before.  Her lips, slightly tinged a chilly blue, smiled up at me as she prattled on naming the kids and asking for her favorite songs.  In that moment she was so amazingly vivid.  It reminded me of a time when a hummingbird hit our window, and gathering it up in my hand while it sat, still and stunned, I was able to admire its astounding beauty for a few fleeting minutes before it flew away.  Looking down at Natalie's glowing little face, alive with the moment, I could see the flecks of blue in her eyes and the pink returning to her lips.  And, as little birds do, as soon as she was warmed through she flew off again to the pool, leaving me with my wet and empty arm and side, strangely chilled from her absense.

I looked up and saw the clouds spread evenly across the sky, just starting to turn pink.  I read from my book a bit more and watched the kids, and when I looked heavenward again just minutes later, I saw that the clouds had already moved passed their cotton-candy pink into faint lavender-grey.  So fleeting.

I do it every year.  I get all caught up in the scrub and sweep, and forget to look up.  Before you know it, we'll be hunkering down for the new school year.  The thought makes me want to jump up and run through the sprinklers myself.

Summer Album I ~ Francine

 

Something strange happens in September.  I find myself holding with a garden-gloved death-grip to the 'lasts' of Summer; last cooling swim, last taste of sun-sweetened fruit, last lazy-late-night dinner in the gazebo. We like to think 'tis but a small thing to go back to school, to go back to regular work hours for Guy.  We pretend homework won't cut in on our all-too-swiftly dimming evenings; that the early mornings will not make our eyes heavy in those last warm late nights.  It's never true.  By September, Summer is only looking over her shoulder at us as she traipses out of Autumns oncoming path.

But this August, as we were still in the midst of Summer's sweet glory, something else glorious visited us, or rather, someone; precious Francine.

Francine had not been able to come for a visit since the day Natalie was born, and it was nearly impossible to cram enough hugs and smiles and stories into the short day and night of her stay.  Like chocolate for me, and potato chips for Guy, a little bit of visiting with Francine only begs for more.   

As usual, she arrived bearing gifts:

 She swept into the house with arms laden; organic tomatoes, peppers, corn on the cob, and an enormous flat of organic strawberries that were so sweet and abundant, we could eat with both hands.  Strawberries are a bit decadent around here, and usually selfishly guarded and handed out one and two at a time.  But these were so ripe, so begging to be enjoyed before they lost their magic, that we sat with bowl-fulls in our laps,  laughing and chatting and unabashedly wiping berry juice from our chins.

 

In familiar reply to Francine's gifts, the children showered her with homemade crafts and drawings, and Guy spent the afternoon preparing a lovely feast, staring the fresh corn Francine had brought.

 Parboiled and then roasted...

Plates were piled high

Grilled chicken on ciabatta bread with avocado spread, and Mexican corn

 (mayo and hot pepper sauce, garlic and paprika,

 then topped with Cotija grated cheese - yum!).

 Don't forget the black beans, homemade 

mango salsa and homemade black bean and corn salsa.

There is something so perfectly magical 

about eating outside on summer evenings.

 Time doesn't matter, only savory food eaten

 in slow bites between stories and laughter. 

 

  And while my yard never quite manages to become
 the yard I envision in my wishful heart,

 it still holds the sunset in the leaves on the trees,
and in the pink glow on my children's faces.

 I had no other gift to offer Francine than an armful of squirmy, delicious baby.

  Francine joyfully accepted, toting little Natalie around, and cozy-ing with her for hours. 

 We only got to have Francine for one night, but she and I stayed up visiting into the wee hours.  Natalie slept contentedly on Francine's lap for all those hours.  She was stockpiling.  I know the feeling.  I try to do it too, when Francine comes. 
But Natalie will learn eventually; 

there is no way to get enough Francine.

The River Goes By

 

"Me" - Jonah says when he sees this picture.

"It's the perfect time of day

to throw all your cares away.

Put the sprinkler on the lawn,

and run through with my gym shorts on.

Take a drink right from the hose,

and change into some drier clothes.

Climb the stairs up to my room

and sleep away the afternoon."

-Bare Naked Ladies 

(for my slightly more "mature" readers 

(Hi Aunt June and Sandy!), 

that's a band from the 90's)

(song here)

***

The lyrics from this song 

 have been playing in my mind lately like a soundtrack to my days.  

They seem to epitomize summer.  

Long sticky days, breezy nights with their hot breath 

that starts to cool as the last glow fades from the sky.  

Rainbows of fruit that I can't keep stocked in the bowl on my table, 

and the sticky little fingers and chins of those who devour them.  

Wet swimsuits on the garage floor (though I scold, of course), 

and dirty, bare feet.  

Late mornings and late evenings, and long visits from friends.  

Sprinklers and hoses and grass clippings.  

Firelight and candle light and barbeque plumes.

Though most of the schools in California have made the freaky leap to school starting as soon as the beginning of August, Ethan's school starts (ahhhh!) the day after Labor day (Thank you, whoever you are, that knows that no child can learn anything before the tomatoes are even coming ripe on the vine!).  And because we homeschool,  

AND BECAUSE I CAN,

 I am starting the littler kids back to school the same day.  

But strangely, as the summer days blur into each other, and the windows darken sooner and sooner at the end of each day, the feeling of school is coming upon is.  The other morning, as I read the last few chapters of Jane Eyre (even though dishes and laundry sat competing with the gathering drifts of dust), I became aware of a quiet that had settled over the house.  Jonah played a softly as the girls sat together pouring over workbooks I had brought home.  Adam hung spellbound over his new-found novel.

It felt like we were in school.

And for the first time in my life,
- in my life as a student and as the mother of students-

I felt excited about school starting.

The summer has passed by us like a lazy river that has now picked up speed. 

Ours has been a summer of play and some work,
and of late nights outdoors by the fire.

I can't think of a Summer in years that I have enjoyed more.

And yet I don't think I'll mind so much 

to see it go.

Welcome, Summer!

 

On the last day of school it is our long standing tradition to consume ice cream in some form, be it a simple cone or a sundae at home.  This year we had more to celebrate than could be handled by a mere single scoop at Rite Aid.

First year of homeschool - check

First year of high school - check

Last year for Guy to deal with certain unnamed challenges at work - double check

Oh, and in case you want to have a gluten free/dairy free fest, you can't go wrong with a banana split, hold the ice cream, whipping cream, chocolate sauce, caramel, and sprinkles (gluten-filled, who knew?).  That means sorbet and fruit sauce.  She didn't even complain.  Man, I would have!

 Whoops.  They accidentally made the Jumbo Sundae instead of the Jr., and brought it anyway.  

Ellie was a little daunted.

 No worries, Jonah is happy to help.  

 No eye contact or smiles, but at least there's no hand in my lens.

It weighed more than he does, but he polished it off!

Things I am grateful for this school year:

Support from my little homeschool community... Kathy and Amanda have seen me through many homeschool tears.  No, not the kids' tears, mine!

Tyler.  He has been such a gentle presence in Ethan's life.  Thank Heaven for 

my children's friends.

My patient husband who single-handedly got one of our children through his particular grade ( you will have to guess which one, as I am holding true not to blog specifically about this individual, but I will give you a hint:  He is not homeschooled, and he doesn't wear a diaper).

My husband again, for supporting me in my continuing scholarly pursuits.

My husband again, just 'cuz he's cute.  

What can I say, I have a short attention span.  

Mention my sweetie and I get all googley-brained.

Watching my kids get excited about owl barf, Egyptian mummies, 100 year old books (Our latest fave: Freckles by Gene Porter Stratton), and anything that includes food coloring, baking soda and vinegar.

Knowing what my kids know, what they don't, and knowing how not to freak them out about any of it.

The state we live in that will give my kids funding for their interests, which have included:

gymnastics

fencing

Lego engineering

rocketry

ancient history and art classes

a fabulous microscope

at least 8 reams of paper

really good art supplies

and countless other books, CDs, computer programs, games and online classes.

It would have been a much duller year without them.

That we live in a country that allows my children to become educated, boys and girls, and the promise of choosing their future occupation, government and religion.

Things I have not missed this year:

Buying the dang tissues, soap and pretty much everything else for my kids classes.

Carpooling.  

No wait, that wasn't the bad part, actually that was awesome because it guaranteed me multiple contacts with Ellen every week, which I really miss.  No, it is the DRIVING 

and the stupid PICK UP LOOP that I DO NOT miss!

Being told what I am not allowed to bring my kids at school.  No homemade goodies?  Honestly?

Having someone who barely knows my child tell me "about" my child.

Signing in.

Signing out.

Being told how I will spend my evening time with my children.

Uniforms.

Making lunches.  Now I just say "go eat something". 

4 -10 PM homework misery.

Oh, one more thing for my gratitude list:

SUMMER VACATION.

Alo-ha!

A trip to Hawaii?

Don't I wish!

Eating ice cream at dad's annual ice cream party was almost as relaxing. 

Ok, not at all.  But ice cream is ice cream, baby.

And hey, it's the last few weeks of Summer Vacation,

so we will go some gallivanting before school starts back up

(did I just say that?  School?  Didn't we just do this, like, five minutes ago?).

Oh, Summer!  Please don't go!

We'll eat you up, we love you so!