another awesome walk with elwood. lucy got to come this time! thanks, margaret!

pumpkin patch!  

it must be fall...beautiful sunny cool days, my favorite!  one patch with lucy's bff olivia...

another patch with cousins!  so great. 

see the maze in the background?  yup. we did that one. that was rough. 

this was the dog park, not a pumpkin patch, but it was another gorgeous day!

no, not my dog...i got to borrow elwood for a bit. such a sweetie!!!

third grade (the pond)

first day of third grade!!

first day of kindergarten, it was ej's first day of his new job, so they got pictures together...look how tall she has gotten!!!!

i'm sorry, but this picture gets its own post.

the faire

today gets its own post. we went to the renaissance faire! so much fun. the girls were awesome and we had a really great time....

we got to meet a unicorn...

we got to meet the queen and watch the courtly dancing...

dan, this one is for you...i think its an ent!!

family

here is our family! love it. my sister and fam come once or twice a year, thank god.

of course, it can be exhausting...

my gorgeous sister. with a beautiful haircut. and yes, i know your mouth is full of food, but i love this picture!!!the big girls. oh my do they love each other!!!!
the little one. oh my lord, does she have my heart. look at that face. c'mon!!!
and she loves me, too. hurrah!!!!

we even got debbie on the motorcycle...thank you guys for an awesome visit!!!!!

mackinaw

couple posts just to catch up!! mom and lu and i went to mackinac island last week for three nights! beautiful spot, but it was hot!!!!!!! nice to be by 'big water' though.

the arch..you can see our rental bikes at the bottom- we rode around the whole island...8 miles? more? and lu did it on her own...mom and i did the tandem!

my beautiful mama. thank you so much for this great trip. thanks for wanting to spend that much time in a row with my daughter and i! i hope that we'll get to do it again and again...

acupuncture

so i have been going to see an acupuncturist for about a year and a half, every two weeks or so. i never thought that i'd be someone who could get needles stuck in them, but i have found it extremely helpful! seriously. back pain, anxiety, pms, insomnia, it helps all of it. and i have all of that. plus, my therapist, kathi drake is really awesome and lovely. it is my favorite thing. it is the closest to meditation that i've ever been able to do- kathi puts the needles in and then leaves the room for 40 minutes. i lay there, still and QUIET for all of that time and think thoughts and breathe and don't move. sometimes i fall asleep, but more often, i just lay there. when was the last time you did that? it is amazing. i highly recommend it!!!

introducing chester the worldly kitten!!

my enormous grown up girl

is at sleepaway camp. right now. holy crap.

p.s. thanks, mom, for going with me!

i love that you get to be a part of these little yet enormous things!!!!