Subtle

Mac wanted animal friendly back-to-school shoes so we went to
the ALL VEGAN store on Park Blvd. While I watched Ry and Silas
run through the store Mac and Emmett decided they wanted back-to-school
t-shirts also. These are two of their less subtle picks. (definitely click to enlarge!)

run on sentence with lots of dot-dot-dots.............

I keep having conversations with complete strangers about how technology is taking over...and one about how I discover a new song, download it and then it disappears in my IPOD shuffle within an hour....about how book stores are loud now with music blasting and coffee shops are quiet with everyone on their computers...about how everything is different from the month before...
I am sure it has always been this way...old farts talking about how things are changing too fast but even the teenagers in my life are saying stuff like that...surely I didn't talk about the good old days when I was 13??
I hope this phenomenon isn't exponential or we will be loving and hating and living and dying in a blink. Ok, I am taking it too far....too fast....
Check out the chart. You will probably have to click to enlarge and clarify because that hasn't been worked out by the little scientists in my computer yet.
And while I am at it. Below is another cool and completely unrelated chart I found on Matt's facebook that I thought was worth spreading...(and forgetting, right!)...

All You Need is Love

Imagine getting married on the cliffs overlooking the ocean at Scripps Pier and when the ceremony is over you look down to see a sandy beach covered in hearts of all sizes with children running around them! Well, that's what happened!




This was so much fun for all of us. We made maybe 15-20 hearts
with the help of two other girls. Mac was right when she said that
bride and groom will never forget it...we are quite sure the photographer
and wedding party took a lot of pictures! We will never forget it either.

Vacation 2010

the beautiful cabin. I love this place! Mac was attacked by mosquitos but managed to have fun anyway... and Emmett learned to play the harmonica and played guitar ALL DAY every day we were there!
Silas took about 1,000 pictures. He was very contented with the camera and here is one of his
"my hand and you" shots (below).



Meg and Crys are two of the kindest people I know! And hilarious
and so fun to jam with! I have just never met anyone like them.
Interested and interesting and up for anything!!!


And then we left Idyllwild (a slightly buggy yet nippy 85 degrees) to venture down to Palm Springs, 119 degrees where you can HEAR the heat and we got to experience Darrin's Place and the Infamous TRIP!!!!
Ok , this is Darrin's house. (below) Our camera ran out of battery while we
were there so I only got a few pictures but WOW what an amazing house!
A Mid-Century Modern paradise! And the POOL! And BOCCE!
The kids were in heaven! (Thank you so much Darrin and Dan for
sharing your house with us! Click on the pictures for a clearer bigger view!;)

The only inside house picture I took but check it out!
Really great Art everywhere too!

And Johnny and George's condo was wonderful as always! It is a feast for the eyes with the amazing view and decor. The history of the place (architect Albert Frey!) is inspiring and it's the perfect place to soak up the Palms Springs vibe.
Love you guys. Thank you so much!! We feel completely lucky everytime we walk in the door!


And then we went to White Water just 20 minutes from Johnny and George's house.
This is the river paradise I have always been looking for in Southern California.
I really can't believe it. In August the water was waste high in places. Tadpoles and frogs
and an entire herd of big-horned sheep went by.

Brother Sister Day 2010

They've got eachother!

New Creations

Chris Reilly made this really beautiful sculpture of Hanaman out of
epoxy clay, drift wood, wax, glass beaded paint and I am sure
some other magic I don't know about. He gave
it to us as a trade for shards from broken pots from the studio. I think
I definitely made out in the deal. We love it!

And here are some new lidded cups that I made on July 28, 2010.
between 10:00 and 12:00...thinking of the wonder of creation.

And here's a little bit of Silas because he is sosososososo funny
and really into the Beatles and I wanted to share him!

Thinking of You...

...Caline, Jono and Natanya...

Sending love and all that is good!

We Love You Bebe!

What a great visit! Thank you for coming and being with us.
All of us were able to spend very special time with you.
Silas would like you to come back on Friday and Emmett will be happy
to Trump you in Monopoly again and again! ;)
See you soon at the flower house!

Summer Shows!

Mac spent the last two weeks at junior theatre camp where they did a fun, shorter production of Grease...Mac was "Frenchie" where she had good opportunity to show off her NY accent, like Aunt Rose, though I didn't get any good video of that, doll.
And Silas' preschool performed a wonderful play from the African story "Abyoyo"...Silas' very first show and he loved it!

his "best" smile!

First pre-school pictures!

Why oh why do they put kids
in these weird, un-natural positions?


This just cracks me up.

Very sweet, isn't he though?!!!

Crazy Delicious

Hey Cam,
Remember the Vegetarian Ruben Sandwich from Jhoti Bhanga?
Well Emmett and I got the ingredients today so we could make it. So easy and yummy.
Here's one for the cookbook...

1)Toasted Rye Bread

2)Thousand Island Dressing on both sides (Russian is better but we couldn't buy it at the store...maybe you can find it...but Thousand Island is almost as good. If you want to make it from scratch the ingredients are :1/4 cup mayo, 1tbs ketchup, dash hot sauce, 1 tbs minced chives or dill, 2 tsp capers, 1 tsp lemon juice)


3)A package of Tempeh, sliced into 1/4' thick slabs sauteed with...
4)well-cooked red onion slices
5)sauteed spinach (optional) is great also!
6)one slice swiss cheese, melted on the tempeh
7)and squeezed-out sauerkraut.

I love this and could eat it all day.
xo

Camping, year 4

The Dreyers, Browns, Camps, Reillys, Diamonds, Finchs, Huertas, Harwood/Roes, Zink/Vitums families all represented...and of course Aiden!. (We missed the Strandes, the Peelers/Hookers, and 3 of the 4 Northrops).
A very fun year marked by the bog and the frogs and the many stringed instruments. The chili and minestrone and the dutch oven full of eggs and potatoes.
The sound of Silas yelling like Tarzan and some late night potty tantrums to balance out the absolute joy in being outside ALL DAY and NIGHT.
The rest of the kids alternating between Woods War and Cops and Robbers.
Lots of trees climbed and guitar lessons as well as one rescued baby squirrel fed every half-an- hour all night long by three of our nature mothers in training.
More rope swinging and singing and smores, vegan stylie. Sage burning, star gazing, leaf collecting and general appreciation of our very loud and boisterous "gypsy camp".

Another great year of kids outnumbering adults, dirty dirty feet, slathered sunscreen and bugspray, a few scrapes and bruises, many laughs and fun had by all.
Wonderful except for the packing and unpacking. That part just sucks.

And check out the incredible dragon/phoenix tree that keeps watch
over our camp!!
And on the way home, a little I am the Walrus...

one day....

..one day we're gonna rent one of these and go up and down the coast with our instruments
(definitely the ukulele!) and our surfboards (ha).
wanna rent one too and come along??
check out this place where you can rent them...

wish I had time for more kids classes...so so fun!

I hosted a class (with Mac, Emmett and Indi's help) for a group of families that trade-off child care in the summers and have come up with a great camp cooperative! So far they have farmed, recycled, baked, gone rock climbing etc etc...great families, sweet kids and a fun morning for me. I miss teaching kids classes!