this photo was from our beach outing last weekend.  david was cracking up and matty was acting like a superhero.  steve and i are just looking at each other and smiling.  we were all feeling lazy but i dragged everybody to the beach and we ended up having a great time.  i love the silliness this photo captured!!

today is our first official day of no school!  the thing i am looking forward to most is slow mornings.  other wonderful summer treats–sprinkler play, time my sis, a few family getaways, coffee with friends, warm evenings, strawberries, barbeques, sundresses.  what else??

1. run toward the water

2. run away from the water

3. catch your breath and then start over!!

i love the edges on these flowers.  soft, feminine and perfectly imperfect.  i love how the color bleeds out from the center.  warm, vibrant, and laid back.  and i love how the blossoms are bunched together like close friends.  a group of close friends having a sweet time.

they played for hours outside and got completely drenched.  david used to hate (oops, we are careful how we use that word…strongly dislike) getting wet, but lately he is totally into it.  playing in the sprinklers and splashing in puddles are favorite activites.  well, second to playing the keyboard.  we’ve got some clothes drip drying in the bathroom and two sleepy boys conked out in bed.  and i think i’m gonna sleep good tonight too!!

i cleaned up the dishes this morning and then snipped this peruvian lily {alstromeria} from our backyard. nevermind that the rest of the house needs tidying and i won’t mention the laundry either!  i’ll just enjoy a clean kitchen and a sweet flower.  oh and maybe another cup of coffee and the sunlight coming in the window.  what is your something small today?

now that steve is home, i don’t want to let him out of my sight!  it’s so, so good to be together.  on saturday we took a walk through the los osos state reserve.  for you locals, you enter on los osos valley road, right before south bay blvd.  it is magical in there.  i brought my tripod and remote so we could capture a family photo.  the boys were both being so silly.  they are as happy as i am that daddy is back!!

steve has been gone for two weeks and he gets back tonight.  thank goodness!  we have all been missing him so much.  we’ll have some downtime together and maybe go out for a movie or tacos.  what are your weekend plans??

**i took this photo last weekend in orange county and edited on picnik.com using duo tones.

don’t white dishes seem so clean and simple?  i also think red dishes would be great.  of course red wouldn’t match my house, but they are so charming!  we registered for various colors of fiestaware dishes for our wedding almost ten years ago and we still use them everyday.  and i love ‘em!  what kind of dishes do you use?  do you have your eye on anything fun??

when you’re five, a lot of problems can be solved with a chocolate donut.  sometimes i want to be five again, but mostly i just want a chocolate donut.  how about you??