The Farmer's Market

One of our favorite family outings has always been the Farmer's Market. I get excited about shopping for food the way most women get about shopping for shoes. I mean real, honest to goodness food from the earth....not some chemicals and noodles in a box trying to pass itself off as such. The beauty of fresh peppers, the imperfection of carrots straight out of the ground, the smell of fresh parsley, cilantro or scallions...these things never fail to make me happy. I can't resist a stalk of brussel sprouts or a cute little basket of blueberries.The medley of greens, reds, oranges, yellows, purples....The smells of the vegetables, fruits, and flowers mingling with hot coffee, kettle corn, elephant ears and plates overflowing with yakisoba noodles....to me is at once calming, soothing, uplifting. Talking with the people that actually grew and picked my food, learning about their practices and sharing recipes...

Have I mentioned that I love the Farmer's Market?


Together we ooh and aah at the food, the flowers (yes, even the delicious jams and jellies!), the jewelry, the artisan crafts, and all the goodies the market has to offer.  The wagon always starts off the day giving rides to our children, but eventually it gets filled with our bounty and they have to climb out, but they never seem to mind.  (Then they get to pull the wagon, after all.) When we're done we head to the nearby playground, always a treat at the end of the trip as the girls run, climb, flip, slide, and always make new friends.

I can't think of a much better way to spend an afternoon!

For Mimi

Having a blast at the pumpkin patch, all the kiddos together!!

"The man who does not read good books
has no advantage over the man who cannot read them."

- Mark Twain

At the Playground

There is a little playground at the reservoir that we love to hike to. Dashiell is no longer content to watch while his sisters play... he wiggles, squirms, and shouts until he can join in the fun. And then, of course, everyone is entertained.

Birthday Gifts

Dashiell's birthday gifts were a family affair, and were by far a bigger hit than I ever could have hoped for.  Joel took a few extras from our (ridiculously large) walking stick collection that I had marked with different intervals ( 1/2 in. to 4 inches in length) out to his saw and magically turned them into individual blocks.  Big D's loving sisters spent their time sanding away, making sure there was nothing left on the wood that could harm their precious brother. (They even enlisted some help from the neighborhood kids, and were only mildly frustrated when certain blocks didn't pass muster...after all that meant they got to do more sanding!) And were the blocks ever a HIT!! Since his birthday they have been played with more than any other toy in the house, and then some. Elora also wrote and illustrated a work of fiction, Dashiell the Dinosaur, as a gift for her baby brother. In the book the big dino family give each other a lot of big dino hugs, and at the end Dashiell's mom gives him a big dino surprise...a baby brother.  She is ever so subtle, no?

Big D's First Cake

Dashiell's first birthday evening was so much fun. I wouldn't have thought it possible, but apparently one can get drunk off of organic gluten free chocolate cake. Seriously, look at the kid.  He was hilarious. My favorite was the, "No WAY!  They put fire on my food!" Expression as we sang "Happy Birthday" (Thanks, Mildred and Patty Hill!) and cheered him on. Then we all indulged in our favorite pastime for a while: watch the baby. Always entertaining. I can't believe my little man is a whole year old! We love you Dashiell!