To counter some extremely sad news our family is dealing with this week, here are some things I happen to be loving this summer: The GeoBee App on our iPad.  GeoBee has been on our iPad for years, but this summer I have been using it a lot.  I love…

Last weekend was Tall Ships Festival.  We love watching the Parade of Sail that always starts the tall ships festival, but we don’t like big crowds of people.  In the past our strategy has been to find a piece of not-so-well known beach a bit away from the crowd down…

It’s hard to describe the kind of waves we found at the rocky beach last Sunday.  It wasn’t windy.  In fact, the air was calm, an the water had a silky calmness to it as well, but there was a heave and thick swell to the water, so that it…

This was totally inspired by a visit to my friend Rhonda’s house earlier this summer when I was in North Dakota.  Nestled under some beautiful evergreen trees in her yard was a terrific mud kitchen.  Her girls were busy cooking up a storm.  Instantly I knew that it would be…

The Iowa cousins brought a Jelly Belly Bean Boozled game.  If you haven’t had the experience of playing (or the absolute delight of watching) before, the box is filled with real honest to goodness jelly beans.  Half of them are normal, like banana, or coconut, or blueberry.  Half of them…

Not many grown ups joined in the Smore Fiesta, but all small (or should we say young. . . or at least young at heart)  sugar-loving people were very, very happy.

Oh, this rattletrap pontoon!  The cabin would not be complete without it.  The fact that it falls apart a bit more each year just adds to its sense adventure and charm.  You never know if it will actually start, actually back up, or actually make it back to the dock.…

Cousin Miranda is an appreciator of cat eye glasses as well, and I think the two of us might convince Cousin Katherine that eclectic eyewear is the way to go.