Perhaps the most exciting and most hilarious part of our annual family cabin weekend with aunts, uncles and cousins is the tradition of dividing into teams to construct boats out of cardboard and garbage bags.  Every team gets a stack of cardboard, eight plastic garbage bags  a roll of duct…

Clearly I need to post about what we’re reading a little bit more frequently, because this list got a lot longer than I had anticipated!  It felt like I haven’t been reading as much as I usually am, but I guess maybe that’s not true after all, because I didn’t even…

Mr. TOF and The Banana have been having a great time running on the track at Wednesday Night at the Races.  Mr. TOF has literally been going to Wednesday Night at the Races his entire life.  His first appearance there was as a three week old baby.  It’s kind of…

One Friend.  Really warm water (well, it’s all relative, right?).  Five swimming kids.  One fight that ended up with a towel being ripped.  Two towels purchased by two kids with their own funds the next day to replace the ripped towel.  Countless cartwheels.  One giant sandcastle.  Lots of holes dug…

Poor first born girl.  Even the neighbors three years younger are catching up and passing by your height. I’m so happy that it’s looking like I’m not going to be the shortest person in the family after all.

Mr. TOF has been looking forward to playing soccer on a real team for months and months.  Practices began a couple of weeks ago, and the very first game was last Tuesday.  To be sure, he was one excited kid.  He woke up Tuesday morning and immediately put on his…

It’s summer!  I get to sleep 8 hours every night, and that’s pretty great.  I can go to bed at midnight or 1:00 a.m. and get up at 8:00 or 9:00 in the morning if I want.  Or I can go to bed earlier and get up earlier, and I…

A few weeks ago I was reorganizing a little bit in our attic and I came across a little box.  I opened it up and inside were just a few special wedding cards I saved from our ceremony 17 (!) years ago.  I typically don’t save a lot of cards,…

We visited the secret beach.  There wasn’t much wind, but the water had a lot of energy, and it was fun to see the rolling waves slosh into the rocks.  Behind a big boulder it was a bit calmer, and The Banana and Mr. TOF ventured in the water. The…

Bees and Wasps are not my friends.  I’m not one of those people who freaks out among bees and wasps, swiping their hands through the air.  I just ignore bees and wasps.  I’m also not one of those people who is dangerously allergic to bees and wasps, but I do…