Baby’s first LAN party 🙂

As of today, both our girls are acolytes. Esme took to the role with solemn poise and I couldn’t be more proud. I love that I can share this bit of my childhood with them and that our church encourages kids to take an active role in the worship service, even from a young age.

We love playing Quixx, but I hate the waste that it creates with the paper scoresheets. And soon we’d have to order another pad. So we decided to laminate some of the sheets so that we could use them over and over and over (and over!) So far it has been a big success

Found this sweet selfie on my phone after I lent it to her.

Drawing at State Beach

At the first Community Sing of the year. I was pleasantly surprised at how many of the songs the girls remembered, even though we haven’t sung them for a year!

“Fellow-citizens, above your national, tumultuous joy, I hear the mournful wail of millions! whose chains, heavy and grievous yesterday, are, to-day, rendered more intolerable by the jubilee shouts that reach them. If I do forget, if I do not faithfully remember those bleeding children of sorrow this day, “may my right hand forget her cunning, and may my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth!” To forget them, to pass lightly over their wrongs, and to chime in with the popular theme, would be treason most scandalous and shocking, and would make me a reproach before God and the world.”

We attended a reading of Frederick Douglass’ “The Meaning of July Fourth for the Negro” this afternoon. While knowing a bit about it before hand and having read some excerpts, it was eye opening to hear it read aloud. This was the 14th annual reading here at Inkwell beach, but it was the first time I had heard about it. We will definitely be revisiting this reading next 7/4, if not before then.

Full text can be found here: http://www.historyisaweapon.com/defcon1/douglassjuly4.html

Wait, what’s that? Sneak off to the beach with a friend while the kids are distracted? Who, me? Never!

So glad this lifelong friend could visit for the long weekend. I love her, my parents love her and the girls wanted to keep her here forever! Come back soon, Jackie!

Sunday afternoon at the beach. Kayaking, current riding, watermelon slurping perfection.

More than once this summer I have stepped into the living room and been admonished by one or both girls, “Quiet! Don’t walk! Maybe, leave!!”

They’ve been working on their house of cards building skills.

Tonight, Esme came out, asked for my phone, and came back with a series of photos of this tower that she’s particularly proud of.