a day on the water: the san diego harbor

goodbye summer

lazy days by the pool

playing at the beach

staying up late

sleeping in

eating way too much ice cream

road trips

camping

warm evenings

the smell of sunscreen

these are the things i will miss most about summer.

even though the weather may stay warm and sunny here in california, there is just something different about the summer months.  maybe with the back-to-school schedule upon us i feel a restriction that was not here last month.  carefree days are the essence of summer.

but i am so happy to welcome fall....and golden leaves and pumpkin pie and chilly evenings and sweaters and the fast approaching holidays.

so goodbye summer

hello fall

now let's go make some pumpkin bread

.gavin's first day of kindergarten.

Well, this day finally arrived.

A day you think about when they're still just tiny newborn babes.  You think it is so far off.  That it will never happen.  Surely your little bundle will be the exception and never grow into a big school aged kid.  You innocently think they'll be little forever.

Then one day it's suddenly here.

They did grow.

They are big.

 And you are enrolling them in Kindergarten.

But they are so excited.

They feel so big.

And they are ready....and really you are ready too.

Ready for them to learn and grow and do great things.

And so off they go to this big new world called school 

and excitedly wave and kiss you goodbye.

They march right in and immediately make a friend.

Proving to you that they are indeed ready for this.

Then they come home full of wonderful stories and quickly begin to surprise you with all the amazing things they can do.

And you proudly display it on the fridge.

And you look forward to another day.
You know that this sweet child is being prepared to take on the world.

One letter at a time.

And you begin to think about another day.
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High school graduation.

Oh, but they are still so little.

Surely your kindergartner will never grow that big....

happy birthday to me!

 This year brought with it another birthday.

32 years old.

It was spent doing all my favorite things....

Like eating chocolate coconut cake.

Shopping at the farmer's market.

And some more shopping....for a new dress and some cereal bowls.

And spending the whole day with my lovely family.

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Thank you everyone for such a wonderful day!

seattle summer: the food

From the Burien farmer's market.

Molly Moon's icecream....

Lavendar Honey and Salted Carmel.

This is a must try!!!

So many amazing and unique flavors you won't be able to decide!

Bakery Nouveau.

If you are ever in Seattle and can only eat at one place, this should be it.

Crazy delicious!

For lunch at Bakery Nouveau: prosciutto and fig pizza.

Seriously the best pizza I've ever had!

Then we went crazy with dessert...

(Don't worry, I shared these with lots of people...in a take-home box :-))

Some sort of raspberry mousse cake.

Yum.

Then the BEST chocolate cake in the world!

And I don't normally care much for this kind of cake, but this was by far my favorite!

Some sort of carmel cake....divine!

Finally, I couldn't resist this adorable little cupcake for Gavin from the cupcake place down the street.

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Lots of good eating on this trip!

seattle summer: the people

Grandma and Grandpa Higbee

Aunt Tammy

Grandma and Grandpa Wallwork

Linda, Whitney, and I...finally having a girls night out.

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We miss everyone already!

seattle summer: the space needle