Someday I will write again, but this is a season of images. My heart and mind feel so heavy with ideas I dug out my journal again this morning, but it is too overwhelming to refine my messy thoughts for this space.
This picture is from my trip to see my oldest. I smile as I think about sauntering around her new town, and peeking into the courthouse to see what was up. I think we spent half an hour in there taking pictures. Why not? We had no where we had to be, which made this a real vacation.
If you read this blog, you are incredulous at the sheer amount of themed birthday parties we throw.
That’s okay. I am finally NOT incredulous, and I have been part of this family for two decades.
May was pregnant with birthdays, showers, graduations, Mother’s Day, and more birthdays!
My sis-in-law, Naomi, turned 40. Her husband, the King Of Themed Parties, threw her a doozy of a Hawaiian-themed party. I found a muumuu and a Hawaiian shirt in the dress-up clothes, raided my daughters’ accessories, and we were ready.
If you ever feel led to throw a themed party, but don’t know where to start, I am sure my bro-in-law could be consulted for a minimal fee. Or you could look back through my pictures the last five years for free.
I took a picture of these darlings before the 100-degree day fried them like a blow torch. It was another good lesson that beauty is fleeting, and why we need cameras.
When Maddie was a baby, I sang “Maddie-poo” to her to the tune of “Peggy Sue”. She still inspires me to burst into song, and I still call her Maddie-poo.
Maddie is quite a girl-woman, and I love her creativity and fun-loving spirit. Which is exactly why she chose to have a 1950′s-themed birthday party, and why we took so many goofy pictures.
We had quite the attendees: Buddy Holly and his debutante; a grease-monkey/race-car driver; the Fonz; June Cleaver; and Doc Holliday, complete with his tuberculosis-induced pallor, and a television for the western he was appearing in (he unfortunately lost his hat and mustache before I could get a picture).
Yes, indeed. What a girl, and what a family!
I can’t get enough of this perfect weather, even if it means sitting in a dandelion patch.
The trail to Marymere Falls in Olympic National Park left me speechless. So I won’t try to describe it beyond the photographs above.
Our trail guides were very patient, as I was compelled to stop around every corner to take it all in, then try to poke my camera lens out of the hood of my rain poncho without getting it too wet. I felt childlike awe, which meant I was lagging behind like a toddler, too. I suppose our friends could have bribed me with chocolate (or seafood!) so I wouldn’t have been so poky. But even that wouldn’t have worked. At the end of our rainy hike, the sky cleared and the sun peeked out, radiant through the droplet-covered branches. Just when I thought it couldn’t get better, it did.
The only other item I will add is that my 12-24mm wide angle lens made the most of the forest. You can’t truly capture the beauty of the place, but this lens made a valiant effort.
We returned from Washington today. The fellowship was sweet, and the scenery was unbelievable. Even though we started back at 3:30 a.m., we feel refreshed. How can you not feel refreshed after you have been to Rivendell?
The vernal equinox doesn’t convey much about how springy it feels. But bare toesies do.
