cute.

i wish i had seen. this site. before i left for the beach.

i'll be honest. i'm past the two piece stage. at least right now. and swim suits. ick. so old or so skimpy. i love the colors of these. and the mix and match options. cute. i think. cute.

sand.wich.

now. that's a sandwich.

say cheese please.

i tried to take some pictures of the littles on the beach tonight. you know the ones. the quintessential dressed in blue or white beach pictures.

i think i got a few good ones, but really. this is pretty much what i got...


and this...


and some more of that...


and lots of this...

reading.

i love to read on the beach. but i don't think i brought enough books to read this time around. i decided to read real books. not books on my ipad. i wanted the feel of a book on the beach. don't get me wrong. i love. my ipad. love. it. don't know how i lived without it. but i wanted real paper on the beach.

so far. i've dug through these. i'd recommend while my sister sleeps.

the beach.

a quick glimpse of what i see on the beach everyday. i could get used to this.

boardwalk.

lots of character.

lots of color.

lots of interesting things.

and lots of choices in every bad food for you!












i love the sites and sounds that make up the boardwalk.

mermaids.

"look mommy."

"mermaid hair."


"they really do exist."

"i told you so."

pillow project.

here's a great tutorial from country living on turning old men's shirts into button up pillows. i've made aprons from old shirts...and i'm always looking for new repurposed ideas.


the fabric in some shirts is fabulous...but if i wasn't sitting at the beach. i'd probably be making some of these. but instead i'm going to dig my toes in the sand and start (another) book. enjoy! oh. and yes. if you make some of these. send me the pictures and we'll share!

beachy.

we've already settled in. feel like i've been here for awhile now already.

but we're all doing our own things.

some of us are trying to surf.


some are meeting new friends.


and me? well. i'm just digging my toes in the sand. and reading a good book.

we're here.

we made it!

we (finally) pulled into bethany at about 3:30 this afternoon.

it only took us about 24 hours. but that counts in a two hour rest stop, and other various coffee, gas and food stops along the way.

it was good to see the chief little owl totem pole welcoming us to town.

we're now officially on vacation!

1202 miles.

our route. we're leaving today back in two weeks. nine states to traverse. new sites to see. maybe flying would have been a better idea?

packing up.

we're heading out this weekend. a long cross-country trip. we're driving this year. we've never done that before. wish us luck. i think we might need it.

two weeks at the beach. i can't wait.

somewhere.

there is a a pot of gold. or two maybe? if you have a double rainbow. are there two pots of gold?

thrift thursday.

it's been a crazy week. vbs. work. getting ready to leave town.

not much time for thrifting for me. and oh how i have the itch to scavenge. go on the hunt. i'm so missing it...

but if you can't go yourself. it helps to have great friends.

my former neighbor, who is the sweetest person and was the best kind of neighbor, but who had to up and move to arizona last summer (we miss them!) left a goodie bag on my doorstep.

can you believe the kindness of people?

look at these wonderful finds.

vintage embroidery. pillowcases. (you know i have a thing for embroidered pillowcases), embroidery patterns (love these.) so hard to find.


and books. on aprons. when did we lose the days of wearing formals with an organdy apron over it? when did we stop dressing like that in the first place? could these pictures be more reminiscent of june cleaver? the illustrations alone are fabulous. but i love that there are patterns, too.


a special treat to come home to! thank you!

years later.

i planted this little hydrangea bush years ago. i mean years. probably 5 years. i've nursed it. coddled it. loved it. and in return? it did nothing. no blooms. no flowers. just leaves. nice big green leaves.

but finally. my persistence paid off. it finally came around. and bloomed. and not only did it give me one flower. it is loaded. ready to burst with many. many pinkish-greenish blooms. here's a peek and its first showing.

lovely isn't it?

drip. drop. drip.

just popping in. It's been raining here. For days it seems. No pool time. Not much outside time. It is summer, right?

We've got a lot to do. But all it seems to do is rain.

rain. rain. go away.

superstar.

we have a a star amongst us today.

there's been a lot of hoopla lately about all the changes to the big XII. stories, rumors, mumblings.

cu finally set the record straight and announced they're leaving for the pac-10. it's about time. this has been talked about for years. probably a better fit.

and since someone lives cu in this house. who better than him should the news come and talk to?

the photos a bit (well more than a bit). hazy. it was humid. really. really. humid today. i think my lens caught more humidity than the subjects. but through the mist you can spy our star (of the day).

chugga chugga.

thomas. seems to make a stop here every year at around this time.

since the littles love trains. we go looking for trains sometimes. they are besides themselves when we spot one.

a ride on thomas was pretty exciting for them. especially little two. sitting in our seat was hard. because hanging out the window seemed to be a better way to ride.


it's been raining here so much, that the corn is barely up. can you imagine planting all that?


they loved the ride. but i think they almost loved the petting zoo after. this little guy looked pretty sad to be locked up in a small cage on a blistering hot and humid saturday.


but this one was pretty happy to be fed by little hands.

thrift thursday.

a little bit of adventuring.

i'm ready for a big adventuring day. but with the littles home. that's a bit harder to come by these days. they only are good with adventuring for little bits of time.

give them a dollar and they'll find a treasure. but they only like to do that at one or two stops...ahh summer.

but here are some of today's finds.


i still love some strawberries. i found two of these cool vintage strawberrry themed trays. love them for summer.


and this book? a girl's guide to the outdoors. i love to go rambling. and there's a whole chapter on how to do it if you're a girl.



remember these? three dimensional relief maps? 25cents. and rocky mountain national park. a place we've spent a lot of time. love them! and the color is all wrong. but those old kitchen tools with the wooden handles. the handles are actually that limey-minty green that i love. in great condition. i left this sale with only spending 75 cents!


how cute is that little fairy doll? i remember these from when i was a kid. i think we had an elf...and i think the big sterling silver and turqouise pin is fabulous. especially for 50 cents!...the yellow bakelite silverware was a rare find. hard to come by these days.

a little thrift thursday finds today.