5:00

is the best time to go to the park. . . especially in late july when the ice cream doesn't quite melt as quickly and dusk is just under your breath. we've lately discovered the joys of having dinner al fresco swing-side and today when we met bridget & crew we figured out why it was so blissful. on tuesday when owen and i walked up to the chaparral park with sierra we sat up in the playhouse with the dog and watched while the bunnies carefully came out of the honeysuckle bushes and ate strawberries. then, raced the moon home in time to take a long bath, read a few pages from moominpapa at sea and fall asleep. rather, sierra and owen slept soundly while i had two full hours of a quiet, content house before crashing out myself. but tonight it was apparent the rest of the neighborhood had caught on--and we didn't have the run of the playground. however, it was a 5:00 park crowd which is worlds differnt than the daytime park politics. the nannies have gone home for the day. the mom playgroups have disbanded. the sand kings have put away their spades. at 5:00 playground time is pure indulgence; it's the after hours crowd.

owen asked me on tuesday if we could have an after dinner park walk again. i answered: yes, tomorrow and tomorrow and the next tomorrow after that. tonight we found wednesday again right here in the ranch.

zipidee do horse

lesson 3

ok, not really a lesson--but i think we could post some of these on our pier! seems a bit more intense with the finish, no?

sign language lesson 2

"look mom: no smoking bottles on the train!"

signs from helsinki: lesson 1

nothing sweeter than "pie"

i was looking for the recipe for the blueberry-peach cobbler i made on saturday and knew i had posted it on adventurefidfam as it's definitely a late summer ritual around here--i not only found the recipe but this video of o&w. if you're looking for an aaaaaaawww moment it's even sweeter than the recipe (click on the pic):

thinking like dorothy

i'm sitting at the computer while owen sets up his airplanes in their gates trying to get a start on "week two" but it does seem terribly blah with michael gone. i'm not sure if taking the next exit home so i could hit the drive thru starbucks counts as staying healthy and frugal but after a 6 am airport run sometimes you gotta make sacrifices. owen awoke to some chocolate milk which helped the panic of not seeing daddy in the car. . .

so week two. i think i'll start by unpacking--yup, i've still got my toothpaste in a quart ziplock bag on the bathroom counter-- and getting re-settled back home. now that owen's got his own big boy bed and i'm not doing a mad commute i'm going to commit to at least an hour a night of dissertation work--which right now i'm hoping just to get the momentum and the habit going and by the time michael returns home i'll keep up with the "project plan" he's made so i can walk this spring and then everyone can call me dr. cara. hehe. i'm thinking for every article i read i get to work on a couple pages of our photobook (i uploaded no less than 1900 pictures to shutterfly!). anyway, there's no place like home there's no place like home. . .