photographs – Page 16 – Surprised By Joy

Photos of the Week: July 29

July 29, 2023July 28, 2023Posted in Photo of the weekTagged photographs, shakespeare, whidbey island57 Comments

“Live in the sunshine, swim the sea, drink the wild air.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

All these pictures are from our week vacation on Whidbey Island – starting with Whidbey wildlife. I’m unclear why deer go down to the salt water. Are they licking the rocks?

Beach hi-jinks. Mr D was super interested in fishing which is not my forte so he wrangled three turns reeling in a rod from someone he befriended. Then he said (after 3 tries), “Why do you keep missing the fish?” Before I could tell him it’s called “fishing” and not “catching” for a reason, he turned and found a dead flounder floating in the surf and proudly proclaimed he caught one. The pic is his imitation of how the fish looks.

Some of our visitors: Deirdre (my meditation teacher and guest on podcasts), my mom (note: Mr D is wearing my shoes and they don’t even look that big), and Mr. D’s birthday train.

Two of my favorite pictures of the week. Mr. D carefully following in Miss O’s path. And the beach cartwheel (one of the at least 1,753 Miss O has done this week).

The heart and the sign of the week. Miss O and Mr D got to see their first Shakespeare play – Romeo and Juliet as performed by the Island Shakespeare Festival. It’s possible I could have prepared Miss O better for the play because near the end she looked up and said, “Romeo isn’t going to die too, is he?” But even though we started with a Shakespeare tragedy – she loved it!

Photos of the Week: July 15

July 15, 2023July 14, 2023Posted in Photo of the weekTagged photographs40 Comments

“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).

Photos of the Week: July 8

July 8, 2023July 7, 2023Posted in Photo of the weekTagged photographs43 Comments

When you arise in the morning, think of what a precious privilege it is to be alive – to breathe, to think, to enjoy, to love.” – Marcus Aurelius

4th of July!

And the guest of honor for the 4th of July show was blogger, Betsy Kerekes (Motherhood and Martial arts blog, formerly Parenting is Funny) who came with her hubby to spend 2 days in Seattle. So fun to hang with this dear blog buddy in person!!

Chasing after my favorite unicorn.

This is how we roll.

Hearts of the week – brought to us from CA by the amazing Betsy Kerekes. And I love this sign of the week!

Photos of the Week: July 1

July 1, 2023June 30, 2023Posted in Photo of the weekTagged photographs40 Comments

“Sometimes you have to travel a long way to find what is near.” – Paulo Coehlo

It was neck and neck in the Tour de Greenlake training wheels stage (thank goodness for the kindness of sisters)!

It’s all picturesque until someone slips and falls … but thankfully no one did this time!

A little work travel. I took a red eye to the East Coast which pretty much just ensured that I spent the whole next day falling asleep on mass transit, grateful for the kindness of strangers willing to wake me up. AND I got to meet the fabulous blogger (The Goddess Attainable) Libby Saylor in New York City!! So much fun!!

And one of my favorite parts of the travel is the wonderful feeling of coming home!

And the sign and the heart of the week…

Photos of the Week: June 24

June 24, 2023June 23, 2023Posted in Photo of the weekTagged photographs63 Comments

“Whatever you do today, do it with the confidence of a 4-year-old wearing a batman t-shirt.” – unknown

How is it that I never realized that my tent can fit two twin mattresses until this year? I totally should have thought of it the year Miss O and I did a backyard campout when I was 8 months pregnant with Mr. D. Sure, it would have been awkward carry those up to some of the places I’ve used the tent, but it’s way more comfortable! And it works great for the backyard.

I can’t claim that we don’t jump in puddles when it’s cold out — but it is WAY more fun when it’s warm out!

Yard work with my mom (Nana) and Father’s Day with my brother, the fun uncle.

In the yard – racoons on the fence and Calla lilies in a pot. I have been fortunate that those lilies just keep showing up year after year – but I didn’t know that until my friend, Deirdre, informed me that they aren’t that easy to grow and I’ve been breaking all the rules. Hmm, now I’m grateful and love the flowers even more!

The neighborhood skeleton and a sign. Put together and we have the summer of love??

Photos of the Week: June 17

June 17, 2023June 16, 2023Posted in Photo of the weekTagged photographs41 Comments

“It’s sad to grow old, but nice to ripen.” – Brigitte Bardot

Celebrating getting older. I just noticed in the picture with Mr. D and Miss O – he has a marshmallow gun and she has a fishing pole. Had she caught a fish — I think they might have been in for a surprise!

The Halloween costume that keeps on giving.

Life goes fast – and so do children!

Pure sweetness. And the homegrown strawberries are nice too.

Sign of the week.

Photos of the Week: June 10

June 10, 2023June 9, 2023Posted in Photo of the weekTagged photographs, summer68 Comments

“I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream.” – International kids chant

Ice Cream Joe made us run for 3 1/2 blocks in bare feet to catch him. But it felt like a rite of summer – and maybe of childhood too.

We went on a hike with Deb – yes, Closer to the Edge, blogger friend Deb!!! Before we met her, the kids were wondering how I knew her, and why we were friends but had never met. Afterwards, the kids were wondering how often we can see her. Yes, she is just as delightful in person as she is on the page!

Sprinkled with joy…another rite of summer!

We ate dinner at a firehouse and our friend let the kids test out all the rigs. I really think Seattle Fire ought to consider adding the kitty cat headbands to their official uniform.

Around home and the neighborhood

Miss O is the strawberry of my eye. Mr. D is glad we are growing them. He says, “Yum, I really like the leaves.” More fiber that way? 🙂

Sign of the week and heart of the week. The heart is a puddle left by the car on the garage floor. It rained on June 9th after 17 straight days of no rain. I’m afraid if this trend for dry, hot weather continues, Seattle is going to ruin its reputation.

Photos of the Week: June 3

June 3, 2023June 2, 2023Posted in psychologyTagged photographs, whidbey island58 Comments

“It is very important that we relearn the art of resting and relaxing. Not only does it help prevent the onset of many illnesses through chronic tension and worry; it allows us to clear our minds, focus, and find creative solutions to problems.” – Thich Nhat Hanh

In accordance with this quote, all these pictures are from our long weekend on Whidbey Island.

Whidbey wildlife. And yes, that’s an eagle standing on the beach.

I’m showing great restraint to only post three pictures of my evening beach walks because it was such a highlight of the weekend away for me.

Swimming season has started. Mr D is applying the lessons in kicking to other pursuits but I don’t see the “kick gambit” becoming a trend in chess.

Driftwood David (caption courtesy of my friend, Eric). It’s hard to resist the gazillion bawdy puns that come to mind but I’m doing my best.

As the 4th largest island in the contiguous US, there are a fair number of farms and ranches near where we stay on the beach. We are always happy to horse around when not at the beach or pool.

Forts (not built by us) and windows

Signs of the week.

And the heart of the week is charcoal on driftwood to fit with the beach theme.

Photos of the Week: May 27

May 27, 2023May 26, 2023Posted in Photo of the weekTagged photographs, summer38 Comments

“And so with the sunshine and the great burst of leaves growing on the trees, just as things grow in fast movies, I had that familiar conviction that life was beginning over again with the summer.” – The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

Miss O bravely tried to see if a kneeboard worked for paddling. It didn’t….for paddling but still was a lot of fun.

Birds, bunnies, bugs, and borrowed dogs.

The first tries on a pedal bike with training wheels for Mr. D came with a lot of victory, walking the bike, and frustration. Here’s a pic of the former.