playing catch up....

I think this will be my motto for the day...
I am playing some serious catch up this week...
I'm back from Seattle, and everyone survived me being gone, or so it seems....

This is always a busy time for us, no matter what. Trying to savor the last of the summer days, squeezing in anything and everything that hasn't happened in the summer that you hoped would. Preparing to get back to school.

Then there's the store. This time of year is more hectic and more chaotic than even holiday time. This is when we have everything coming for fall, Christmas, hundreds of boxes, tons and tons of racks of clothes that need to be steamed and priced, and even more that needs to be un-boxed but where??? Oh, where? The back rooms overflowith!

So for today, I forget about the home stuff, the end of the summer stuff, the back to school stuff, and all the other "stuff". Today is kick some butt and get some stuff done at the shop day! :) As Bob the Builder would say, .... "we can do it.... Yes we can!"

(can't help but hear Lila in my head when I think of that one!)
(that's the one she and I say to one another during these times)
(Boy I've missed you Lila, so glad you're almost back!!!:))

our family photo shoot...

a week and a half ago we had the

pleasure of having our photos taken

by the very talented Meghann Street

of... Your Street Photography
excited doesn't even sum this whole

experience up for me.......

for a long time I have wanted really artistic

photos taken of our family, but haven't known

where to go, or who to call,

recently some friends of ours had some photos taken

of their little girls and I fell in love with them....

then, when I found out she travels to you

is amazingly reasonable, and releases

the edited photos to you...

I thought I'd died and gone to heaven!!!

I hope you enjoy - this is just a snippet

of the AMAZING photos Meghann took for us!

Please check out her blog or look at her work

if you are at all interested in having photos taken!

just click on any of the photos to see a larger version

Thank you Meghann for putting up with us!

Can't wait to do this again!!!

good friends...

now that's love.

click on the photo to see up close and personal :)

paddle boats...

Our third outing on our week off, was to the paddle boats at Waverly Park. Simple, Easy, Close to home. Oh, so much fun. Anything and everything is better with daddy, I've discovered. What a terrible thing to be adored so! Nothing is better than when we're all together, it's as if all is right with the world!

butterflies and flowers...

Day no. 2 of our "stay-cation" was a trip to a place I had been wanting to take the girls to all summer. We finally made it! We went just a few miles away to an amazing place called Wings of Wonder

Wings of wonder is an Educational Outreach teaching about butterflies. It's beautiful, fun, and perfect for inquisitive kids like mine. Meritt wasn't so sure at first, but warmed up as soon as she realized all the flying butterflies wouldn't hurt... they only tickled!

I thought the scenery was exceptional. The flowers divine. The day PERFECT! We had so much fun, I highly recommend it!

There were sunflowers so tall... they towered above us as we walked through their amazing gardens! If you haven't been, - head to Wings of Wonder!

I'm Back!

Sorry, I've been gone so long. Took some much needed family time off, then my beloved computer had to go to the doctor, so it's been a little while! Had an awesome time with Matt and the girls last week. Took tons of day trips, lazy time, and enjoyed each other immensely! Here are a few photos of our first day trip to the beach!