An Evening Shower

I have been so quiet over here!  The thing is, whenever there are actually things going on, I become distracted by them and forget all about taking pictures and writing down stories.  When things are slow and quiet, I have all the time in the world for documenting and remembering.  But just when they get exciting it's all over!  My sister Irene is staying with us for a little while as she prepares for the birth of her baby (and before her husband joins her from Haiti), so we have been simply enjoying her company and doing things together and  having fun.  I promise to take more pictures.

The other day, one of those strange evening showers moved through.  It was sunny, but raining at the same time, with a rainbow off in the distance.  Zosia and Ben were the only two still awake, so they just stared and stared, enjoying the magnificent beauty that you can sometimes find in such an ordinary moment.  I love it when something beautiful just catches you by surprise like that.

(my sister and mom at the airport.  Just a few weeks until these little guys have a new cousin!)

Lake

Yesterday we got home from a little lake vacation.  We rented a cabin at a state park, and spent the days at the lake: either through walking down to the lake on the little path next to our cabin (where there were great shells that the kids loved collecting) or at the beach, where we spent many hours playing in the sand, wading in the water, and having beach races (take it easy on the kids, Ben!).  There were so many butterflies on the sand (drinking, maybe?) and the kids just ran around yelling "Hi! Butterflies!" "Bye! Butterflies!" or just the abridged "Hi! Bye!" if you're Hugo.

  We had the place just about to ourselves, with a few neighbors trickling in over the course of the morning.

We were all so happy: even Selma (who at heart, really is a water dog) came along and enjoyed the water.  We didn't even minded too much when our air conditioning broke on the car ride home.  We rolled the windows down, Hugo went to sleep, and we enjoyed the breeze in our hair.  Well, we might have been a little overheated by the time we got home.  Is it safe to say that summer is here?

After we got home, we went to pick up one of our favorite people from the world from the airport, and all felt right with the world.  Last night, as I was going to sleep, I had the image of the beach fresh in my memory.

Mother's Day in Pictures

Happy Mother's Day!  Highlights of ours included:

::a beautiful day for a picnic at the park

::enough wind to get the kite going

::having both of our mothers, both of our fathers, and my godmother there to celebrate with us

::a sour cherry cobbler made by Ben

::and enough leftover cherry juice to make some sour cherry lemonade

::a balloon that made Hugo so so happy

::the joy of seeing so many families out together enjoying one another's company

I hope you had a beautiful day too, whether it was with your own mother, or with your children!