lions and tigers and (momma)bears ~ oh my!

... or in our case ... earthquakes and hurricanes and back-to-school - oh my!  would you believe that at the moment i snapped this photo of the girls peeking their heads at the edge of the pool in west virginia ...

... there was an earthquake that came a-rumbling?!  the girls, being in the pool, didn't feel a thing - nor did i in all honesty.  but my mother, who was sitting behind me as i took the photo, felt it ... she thought her chair might be on a loose stone and tried to adjust it.  i joked that it was just she herself who was getting unsteady.  turns out she had felt the earthquake that originated outside of Washington DC ...

... crazy, right?!  and just a few days later, we drove home to Massahcusetts only to greet Hurricane Irene - which, for those of us on the coast, was nothing more than a blowy rainstorm (unlike many inland areas stretching from PA all the way to up to VT - unbelievable flooding and damage in those areas!).  and for little ladybug, what better way to greet a hurricane than with cookies ...

... in case you're wondering what the design concept is on the bottom row of cookies - think "weather channel" - got it yet?!  the colored icing represents the doppler radar snapshot for Irene and the grey frosting represents regular ole' satellite view from space.  clever little ladybug, isn't she?!  eventually the skies dried out as Irene moved off into the yonder, but it didn't stop the inevitable from happening ... the first day of school was on its way and our back door went from looking like this ...

the all-important life vests and a sack full of sunscreen, towels, and spending money ... ah, summer is such bliss!

to this ...

uh oh

thank goodness we still had enough time to squeeze in one last family dinner down by the harbor to celebrate another glorious summer gone by:

... and then it was time to make the switch official - the painful switch from those lazy summer days to the days of early morning routines, school-day structure, and late nights filled with schoolwork ... 

i must warn you that the obligatory first day of school photo is not a great one - not at all.  for the 2nd year in a row, it poured rain on the first (and second and third) day of school - forcing an early morning photo in the near dark with a pocket camera ...

... but no matter how blurred the photo, one thing is very clear: my ladybugs are off and running ... all on their own.  7th grade and 5th grade.  and boy are they ever off to a great start - such big and capable girls now - all you have to do is look at them to see.  and this momma-bear is just so SO proud.

♥

august-ing ...

Once Race Week is over, August begins and the summer starts to shift from a time of endless carefree days into a season that is fleeting ... class lists/teacher assignments are distributed by the end of the first week and before you know it, you're cracking the whip on those untouched summer reading books and planning Fall activities.  Frankly, August can be a bit of a downer if you're not careful ... but every August day needs to be enjoyed to its fullest ... while there's still time.

Every year, the last half of August - the time after camp has ended but before school has started - is reserved for me and the girls to spend with my mother.  Living so far away from my family in Florida, these lazy visits are few and far between ... so it's a cherished time for sure.  My mother spends the summertime in West Virginia, a manageable 13-hour road trip from our cozy seaside nook and a world apart with its rolling hills and farmlands.  We loooove it!  You can read about last summer's adventures here.  As for this summer, we changed it up a bit this year.  I received a "persuasive letter" as we call them in our family ... when the kids have something they want to see changed (or something that they would like to have), we encourage them to write a "persuasive letter" to us that outlines the reasons why this change is deserved.  Here is what I received about a month before our road trip ...

The reference to "hopefully NOT get sick" is because about a year and a half ago, the girls and I met my mother for the weekend in NYC ... we had 5th row seats to see a Broadway show, hotel reservations in Times Square, dinner reservations at Serendipity, the whole works - one big magical day together in NYC.  But instead of being at any of those places, my poor little ladybug spent the entire weekend getting sick in the hotel bathroom. It was heart-wrenching not only to see her that sick and depleted, but to see her disappointment over how much was being missed right outside our hotel window - she had been looking forward to that weekend for months.  Talk about adding insult to injury!  So how could I possibly say no to adding a couple of nights in NYC to our annual road trip to West Virginia?!

In any event, that was a very long way of saying that our August looked just like this ...

fabulous view from the room!

right outside the hotel doors in times square

not exactly ...

the bottom row of windows is the VH-1 studio in times square ... you'll see 2 people standing in the window under the pepsi symbol - the one in white on the left (with the huge hat) is ... LADY GAGA!  she was waving to all of her crazy fans on the street below

no ice skating in August!

sock monkey was carefully propped up in our hotel window so we could wave to him from the top of the Empire State Building just a few blocks away ...

Hi, Sockey, can you see us up here?!?!?!

future cabbies ...

kicking it up with the rockettes at the wax museum ...

nighty night, new york ...

sleep tight, for tomorrow we hit the road again ...

Then after a quick 7 hours into the hills of West Virginia ...

Yes, indeed, we lived each day of August to the fullest ...

There shall be eternal summer
in the grateful heart
~Celia Thaxte~

race week-ing ...

Anyone who was here last summer probably remembers the extreme tie to sailing that our seaside community has ... and my manbug is deeply (as in: thoroughly and permanently) rooted in that culture - he would sooner sell his soul than give up his life on the water ... he sails competitively and volunteers endlessly for the local race committee, for his fleet, and for his old junior sailing club where it all began (the same sailing club where our ladybugs now sail).  In short, my Manbug eats, sleeps, and breathes sailing ...

just another Saturday for the Manbug (in yellow)

The last weekend of July every summer marks the peak of the sailing season when our town hosts hundreds sailors from all over the country to a full week of racing, first the kids (Monday-Wednesday), followed by the adults (Thursday - Sunday).  Manbug has won first place in his fleet about 3-4 times over the years (including last year!) and was once selected by Race Week's sponsor (Sailing World magazine) as the 'overall' winner among all the fleets, earning him the trip of his dreams: a chance to compete in a championship regatta in the British Virgin Islands against 7 other 'overall' winners from various sailing towns in the country (Annapolis, Larchmont, Chicago, Miami, etc).  In any event, Race Week is big - it's the halfway point of summer, it's the pinnacle of the sailing season, and it's some good ole' crazy busy fun.

And this year's Race Week was no exception in the 'crazy busy fun' category ... it starts early in the morning with the packing of the lunches and the gear, followed by the rigging of the boats and sailing out of the harbor to the race course out in the open water by 10:30/11:00 ... and depending on weather conditions you could either be floating and waiting all day or you could race in as many as 5 back-to-back races.  This year I had the opportunity to watch the junior races from the water instead of the shore since manbug was (of course) volunteering as a 'help boat'.

What a difference a front row seat makes ...

big ladybug is in the center - sail# 40775

the sisters check in with one another during a break

as you can see here, the junior fleets are huge - as many as 60 boats at once!

big ladybug stops to smile

little ladybug trims the sails while steering to maneuver around a tight spot

Manbug gets full credit for all of the above photos ... he's quite the photographer, isn't he?   He was as excited as I've ever seen him to be on the water watching both of his kids following in his footsteps and sailing their little hearts out ... Manbug nirvana.

july-ing ...

no need to overexplain ...

pedicure-ing

4th of july-ing

hydrangea-ing

overgrowing!

rock skipping

birthday-ing

harbor gazing

overheating!

poolside chillaxing

sunset gazing

perfection

thirteen

sort of ironic that today is the thirteenth ... that works well with what i had planned to say today ... because in the middle of july this last summer, momma ladybug found out what thirteen looks like ...

it's beautiful, isn't it?  but at the same time, it's so complicated.  and so fragile.  and so challenging.  thirteen is the start of something entirely fresh around here - no longer a child but not yet a true teen either.  so much to explore as she finds out who she's going to be.  and as she does that, she'll discover that thirteen is so many things rolled into one ... all at once, it's insecurity and awkwardness tied together with independence and growing confidence.  it's tears and hurt feelings that go hand in hand with proud accomplishments and discovery.  never in my wildest dreams did i imagine that something that started like this ...

... would end up thirteen someday.  it blows my mind really.  but i am so comforted that she continues to have the same pureness in her heart that she had from the very first day.  her compassion defines her right to her core.  the girl who once dressed as Dumbo for Halloween as a show of solidarity for the underdog with the big ears still sheds tears today for those who are teased or put down.  and that's a tough position to navigate when you're thirteen.  in short,  i'm so very proud of my beautiful thirteen year old ladybug ... 

what i want most for my daughter

is that she be able to soar confidently in her own sky,

whatever that may be

~helen claes~

Happy 13th Birthday to wonderful you, my sweet ladybug ...