Tag: photographs

“How does light enter a house? If the windows are open. How does light enter a human? If the door of love is open.” – Paulo Coehlo

Miss O loves going to the doctor – a preference she is trying to pass on to her brother.

I’m amused by the different views on hiking in my family. What for Mr. D is “spending time on the mountain” is still mostly a lie-about for Cooper.

Fairy houses, funny faces, going for a swing, and “training” Cooper.

A beautiful heart of the week provided by the delightfully sunny, Julia Preston, of the Voices in my Head blog and author of the incredibly fun, insightful and must-buy book Voices: Who’s In Charge of the Committee in My Head
So the sign of the week is Shakespeare just to try to keep up.

“Keep your feet on the ground and your thoughts at lofty heights.” – Peace Pilgrim

From the top left – turns out the Miss O is very good at winning games at the Washington State Fair. She also likes the rides, ans it turns out that I don’t. It’s as if I needed a reminder that I’m an endurance person, not a speed person. See my expression on the bumper cars. And on the swingy-swingy thing. Ugh! Miss O is the one with her arms out wide. I’m the one with my eyes closed.

Hence the quote selection for this post – yep, keep the feet on the ground. And yes, I’m totally fine with you laughing with/at me. 🙂

I’d entitle this grouping “Mr. Cooper goes to Washington” but since we’re already here, I guess that’s not exactly accurate. Instead, its the Adventures of Mr Cooper: he goes to school, learns to drive, hangs out at the dog park, goes for a neighborhood lie-about, and then decides he decides riding in the car best of all.

The heart and the sign of the week which sums it all up beautifully.

“I wish there was a way to know you’re in the good old days before you’ve actually left them.” – Andy Bernard

Someone’s growing up…and by that, I don’t just mean the dog.

Clockwise from top left:

I suspect that climbing route might be the closest experience my kids have of a telephone handset.

Miss O and Mr D vying for honorary Seattle ambassador status.

It didn’t take long for Mr. D to get someone to ride on the back of his motorcycle.

Mr. D puts the service in service station.

And speaking of service, the bottom left shows a special forces soldier doing mailbox reconnaissance.

Heart of the week is an air pocket in a baguette. And the sign of the week is courtesy of my tea bag. It feels like the message might be a koan. My head isn’t quite sure what to do with it but my heart feels like it’s true.

“A bird is safe in its nest – but that’s not what wings are made for.” – Amit Ray

Riffing off the quote of the post – apparently wings are made for rides at the fair. At first the tame rides we’re fine but it wasn’t long before Miss O wanted to try out the Tornado. At the end, we talked to a turkey and that was Mr. D’s favorite part. I think he invited it over for Thanksgiving.

Meet Cooper aka named Mini Cooper for his puppy stage. He’s coming home on August 11. At which point you should all expect this blog to go to the dogs!

Except for Mr D and Miss O, of course!

The sand castle heart (aka Castle Heart Island) and the sign of the week.

“Time wasted at the lake is time well spent.” – unknown

Endless amount of fun in the cool clear waters of Spirit Lake in Northern Idaho

Hiking, swinging (with a mist for a twist), and reading at the lake.

Miss O and Mr D figuring out how to work together to get Cheerios at the hotel on the way. Amazing how Cheerios can bring a family together! 🙂

I kinda thought Mr. D would be done with time in the car for a while, especially after we took an extra 20 minutes on the way back from the lake for Giving Lift. But he was ready to jump back in and go for a spin.

The kids learning how to pick lettuce in the garden with the best sign ever (see below) and the only rule is that you have to eat what you pick. That doesn’t apply to dandelions!

The heart and the sign of the week thought up by my brilliant friend Katie (from the family gardens at Spirit Lake).