Sunset on the bay

A couple of months ago a professional photographer snapped this picture of Frank watching the sunset on the Pitt Street bridge near our home. They had exchanged cards and the photographer emailed Frank the photo recently. This spot has become one of Frank's favorite places to go this summer, he likes to bike over there alone in the evenings and fish or watch the sunset. Every time he does he comes home with his spirit refreshed...fun to have that captured in a picture that will always remind me of this summer.
You can check out more work by the photographer here.

Hello September, I've loved the August break, but I am looking forward to getting back into the schedule that the autumn brings!

August Break: Highlights from the Farm

As with every year, there was so much to enjoy in our ten days on the farm, I can't believe that another August has passed already!

Waking up in the van with these two faces peaking down from their top bunk,

feeding the cows,

enjoying the garden,

watching the cousins playing and eating together was so special,

There is a drought going on in western North Carolina this summer so there were not nearly as many of these friends of the forest as last year! 

My boy became so independent this summer, taking long walks around the farm by himself for the first time and helping my aunt Janet with chores like loading hay.

These mountain views never get old for me,

neither does exploring the underbrush,

and spending long hours with people that we love!

Now that we live only a four hour drive from the farm we can't wait to visit more often!

August Break: Edisto Beach

We had plans to camp in the van this weekend, so after it was clear the wild wind and rain of Hurricane Irene had passed us on Friday, off we went to Edisto Beach, a state park along the coast to the south of Charleston,

The campground was right on the beach, and the water after the hurricane was very churned up and rough, not a friendly ocean. The beach had a wild jungely feeling to it that I liked,  it was also a sea turtle nesting site, with special protected areas roped off but we did not see any turtles,

The storm had washed all sorts of interesting things onto the beach, we found so many gorgeous whole perfect Conch shells, silly us we did not carry a bag on our beach wanderings so our hands just kept getting more and more full of shells as we walked,

Check out my boy's adult front teeth that are coming in so fast this summer, love that new toothy smile!

At sunset we traipsed back to our campsite with all of our treasures, only to find that..

even with a view like this there were swarms of biting flies, ugh. So we abandoned our beach camping night, hoped in the van and headed out to dinner in the small town of Edisto, then drove home with the kids asleep in the back that night!
There is something that I really like about night driving, with the kids asleep, its so peaceful, cozy and quiet, reminds me of when I used to fall asleep in the car as a child.

August Break: Back to School

I have sunk deep into the August break during our time on the farm last week, and even though we are back home and back to school this week (what!!) we are still drinking in all of the goodness that summer has to offer.
We have camping plans in the van for the weekend, and it looks like we'll thankfully be missing the bad weather of Hurricane Irene that is sweeping the US east coast, so we are hoping for some beach days.
I'm not used to school starting in August, up north it always starts in September, so this early back to school time has taken me a bit by surprise....sure we were ready enough for the early mornings and the making of new friends, but I'm missing my long days with my little ones around all the time. Ah swift delicious summer, its hard to see you go. Lets dive in for just a little longer, while I get used to the idea of having a First Grader and a Pre-Schooler.

August Break: Sunrise this morning

We've been drinking in all of our precious time with dear family this week on the farm, can't wait to share more pictures when we return home later this week!

August Break: Waking up on the farm

Mountain views, 

feeding the chickens with Aunt Janet while still in pajamas,

Forest light.

August Break: Van, again!

As of yesterday we are the proud owners of a VW camper van, again!

I looove VW camper vans, and I can get a little geeked out over all of the different models and types. I owned a 1978 Westfalia Camper model from 1996 to 2002, and traveled around the US and Mexico living in my van for a year, I knew that van so well and loved it.

Frank and I camped a lot in the old van when we were first dating, but when the van started needing a little too much work we sold it with heavy hearts to a friend of ours, as we knew that it was just getting too old to be a good car with kids.

Then, with our move out of NYC in sight this year, we started to think about getting another VW camper, we have always talked about how fun to would be to camp and travel in a camper van with Jasper and Carys.

Almost by chance I found this 2002 model that was for sale right in Asheville, where we come each year for our annual trip to my family's farm.

We drove up to the mountains a couple of days ago. Yesterday we met the wonderful older hippie couple that was selling the van, talked with their mechanic, test drove it on the beautiful mountain roads and made it our own!

We camped outside of my aunt's house last night and looking forward to doing it again tonight! Sleeping in the van feels like the four of us are in the coziest little two story cabin, bringing back lots of memories of my old van, but also feeling so different and new.

Waking up there this morning was wonderful too, peaking out through the curtains, listening to sounds of the forest, and of course imagining all of the adventures that are ahead of us in these new wheels!

August Break: Back from the beach

August Break: Fishing from the Pier

An expansive beautiful view and ocean breezes to enjoy. Caught a bunch of shrimp (learned that you can see right through their bodies) and little fish. Released all of them after watching them swim in our buckets for a while.

Hours of fun.