My Summer Stay-cation

Seeing that I had just returned from a 12 day trip around the world, the Furbers weren't too anxious to go away for the holiday weekend. Instead, we decided to stay home and pretend our house was a resort. The kitchen was the coffee shop, our backyard was the grounds, and our bedroom was our hotel room. We didn't even mind sharing a bathroom with the other guests.

• We slept in late.
• We lounged by the pool and had fresh towels every day.
• We sampled the local cuisine: mostly made with the 20 lbs. of cherries picked at the local cherry orchard.
• The girls and I made a big jar of minty water with fresh mint from our herb garden and gave ourselves facials.
• I explored the local terrain on my beach cruiser.
• We listened to music.
• We read our books.
• We watched movies and ate popcorn.

I must say, this is one great resort. Pencil me in for July 4th.

There's What You Have, and There's What You Do With It

A few years ago, my parents gave us two steamer chairs for our backyard. Until yesterday, those chairs were just chairs.

Then Katie and I settled into them to read, enjoy the sun and relax. After we were there awhile, we started chatting about stuff.

About what Katie wants to be when she grows up -- a veterinarian so when she grows up she can bring Jasper to work with her.
About what kind of animals she wants to take care of -- big dogs and kittens.
About what first grade will be like next year -- she's a little nervous about eating lunch in the cafeteria every day with the big kids.
About Jack leaving their elementary school next year -- she's sad.
About how she likes Andie's friends who were visiting for a study party in the kitchen -- they're nice and they like her skirt.
About what she wants for dinner -- popsicles.

Now those chairs aren't just chairs -- they hold the memory of a fun afternoon when I forgot all about the housekeeping, email and the phone, and lost myself in the world of a five year old. And when I got so lost in Katie's thoughts that I now have a raging sunburn.