This year's butterfly pie

Last year, Tristen and I enjoyed making pies together -- mostly blueberry. We called them butterfly pies because of the play dough cutters we use to decorate the top.

This year we stepped it up a notch by growing our own rhubarb and pitting our own fresh cherries from our CSA (thank you, Annie and Sue of Helsing Junction!). Tristen did a lot of the pitting himself -- and then, when we both finally got impatient, he removed stems and I pitted.

So the pie was cherry-rhubarb. No spices. Just sugar and vanilla extract.

My only regret is that I was so insecure about how it might turn out that I didn't call Bryan to come over for a piece. And then it turned out to be one of the best pieces of pie I've ever had. It wasn't even runny!

I got you, babe

Tristen: I can't marry Drew because he's a boy.

Me: Actually, honey, we believe you can marry anyone you love, girl or boy.

Tristen: Oh.

[The next day, after school...]

Tristen: Mommy, I asked Owen to marry me! And he said yes!

[The pix below are from Tristen's bday. These two are so much fun together.]

Creation station

An idea from Interlake: "creation station." Basically, we save junk, and Tristen creates sculptures using tape and glue. Nearly every one of the creations starts out as a boat and turns into a rocket ship.

Pea sheller

Last week, we NEARLY finished our whole CSA box. There was only a tablespoon of pesto and a small bunch of bok choy left. I spent a good part of the weekend cooking, though. Tristen shelled the peas!

Kiwi for two

Picked up a second kiwi that will fit one of us and Tristen, who had outgrown sitting between our knees.

Last weekend Chris and Tristen spotted me as I swam across Green Lake.

July trip to Manzanita

We took a short vacation in the middle of July, and it rocked.

After spending a fabulous evening and lazy morning in Portland with Eric, Fred, and Miles, we hit the coast. We stopped at Waves of Grain Bakery in Cannon Beach, and I had the BEST CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIE EVER. Very cakey. I also had the BEST ROSEMARY ROLL EVER. Yummy salt.

We arrived in Manzanita to find that the vacation home we rented was BETTER than the pix. When does THAT happen? We spent a day playing around as a family, and then Eric, Fred, and Miles joined us. Yay!

Morning runs, mid-morning hikes or beach trips, afternoon naps, late afternoon skimboarding and castle-building at the beach, relaxed evening meals, and late-night hot tubs with gin...It really was idyllic. A Play Station in the basement kept Miles and Tristen entertained in between activities.

Eric, Miles, and I attempted to watch Tour de France on the make-or-break day. We had to sit on a bench in a slight drizzle outside the library -- the only place in town we could find with wi-fi (what's up with the coffee shops in Manzanita? No wi-fi.). It was ungodly early, so the library wasn't open. When we lost power during the last 10 minutes of the very close stage, mayhem ensued. We scoured the neighborhood, laptop open, trying to suck power out of random outdoor outlets. Unable to find one that worked, we desperately dived into a coffee shop long enough to get a few minutes of battery power, then ran back toward the library -- again, laptop open -- in time to see Contador cross the finish line. (And of course, weeks later, Contador's sample came back positive for doping, making us feel like the chumps we are.)

I had a few moments on this vacation that were truly perfect. One was watching Chris and Tristen play on the beach while I laid down and nap-daydreamed in the sun and warm surface sand. I felt so happy and hopeful and grateful for my wonderful little family.

Another perfect moment was playing frisbee with Eric while Chris, Miles, and Tristen learned to skimboard nearby. Felt good to be active. I don't think adults jump enough. Jumping really is fun!

The drippy castle idea came from our cousins in the south. I hope we did you proud, Christine, David, Alex, and Julia!

Aunt Beth and Cousine Christine

Circling back to some of the summer's highlights, where I've been slow to post pix...Aunt Beth from Berkley and Cousin Christine from North Carolina visited in June. It was SUCH a good time. These are just two of the coolest people ever -- warm, smart, funny, engaging. The perfect relatives. We don't see them enough.

Christine, especially, is too far away -- must get to North Carolina to visit her family (two second cousins there!) and their camellia nursery.