Fall Break - Visiting Family in Boston

We were blessed to be able to fly up to Boston for a few days over Fall Break in October. It's hard to believe my little sister is completely grown up with her own family and established life in Boston! She, Abe and Mira are gracious hosts and spent time showing us all about their town. (Above) Boston skyline from the St. Charles River Bridge.

• Walking along the well-restored neighborhoods of Boston. I hope the girls can appreciate all the city can offer and at the same time, realize the different kind of blessings they might have in the country. Most of all though, I hope they learn to respect everyone's choices about where they live.

• I thought this window box was absolutely gorgeous. This will be my inspiration for next fall!!

Awe.....I wonder if this look is "code" for "Do you think my family stands out in the city?" Interesting artwork on MIT campus....
The hallowed halls of Harvard..... Isn't this precious? Notice the older couple reminiscing on the park bench as the current students mill about....How things change yet stay the same... The girls first t-train experience!! On our way to the skywalk.... Views of Boston and Cambridge from the Skywalk. Boston/Cambridge are neat cities. There are numerous neighborhood parks, coffee shops, restaurants, and interesting places to pop into. The environment is very walk/bike friendly. (Above) One of my favorite photos! Taken outside a coffee shop...great for vocabulary building! Hilarious!

• Thanks to my sister sharing my admiration for the seashore, she drove us the 45 minutes (I am so jealous) to Crane Beach. The drive was populated with scenery of Cape Cod houses, perfect New England small towns and incredible fall foliage.

Crane Beach...Plum Island in the distance. Having never seen a seashore I didn't like, New England didn't disappoint. The field grass and goldenrod grew right down to the sand. It was beautiful.

• Sand angels....I like them much better than snow angels. Thanks for sharing, Mira!!

• A couple of other interesting discoveries during the trip included:

Candlepin Bowling.... And.. Spindrift....A locally produced bottled beverage that McKenzie & McKayla couldn't get enough of. And my final photo of this post says so much more than it appears to say. It was taken the morning we were leaving for the airport. Mira wasn't sure about "the leaving" and neither was I. I enjoyed spending time with Misty, Abe and Mira at their home and in their locale. I think Mira's expression reflects the pain of parting. We all paint on the smile and say how nice it was to visit. We are all ready to get back to our own places and routines but we know before the first utterance of goodbye that we are sad. We already miss each other. Can you see the "glad you came", "I will miss you", have a safe trip home", "til next time" ? And if you look closely, you will also see the "I'm sad-I don't want you to go" part that we never really say.

• It has been sweet to look back at the photos and choose the ones for this post. So many memories are encased inside each one. Thank you so much, Ojure family! We had a great time. We enjoyed your hospitality. We love you. We miss you. We did want to go home to our place and our other family members...but we also didn't want to leave you!

• May we all cherish our families and the time we get to spend together. The world spins so fast and people go in every direction. Time is so fragmented. Family is forever.

God bless you all.

Lost Baby

Late one evening in late Spring, I went out into the garage and noticed what I thought was a bird with a wing outstretched. I thought perhaps it was injured. When I reached down to gently lift it up, suddenly a long neck and even longer legs popped out!! There was hardly any bird body at all...just wings, neck and legs. Realizing it was a baby turkey, probably belonging to the brood we'd seen earlier that day, I brought him inside, photographed him, and then released him into the woods to find "mama" again. I just had to share the photo.

31-derful Days

July 1 - 31, 2011 Downtown Venice...The view from our front door... Sunset Happy Family Times... Sunset on 4th of July... Our dear friends from downstairs, CK & Kathy. No place like the beach to celebrate the 4th. Part of the beauty of Venice is that is unspoiled. No high-rise hotels. No boardwalks. Just God's glorious creation... Our summer home...the end unit center of the photo... Banyan Tree out back. One of the most interesting parts of the summer was the Sea Turtle nesting. Above is a "crawl" where a mama came out overnight to lay her eggs. One morning, we got to watch some of the personnel from the Mote Marine Lab excavate a nest and release the hatchlings!! Seriously, it made me cry! There they go.... What the nests look like when they begin to hatch. Notice the tiny tracks in the sand where the first turtles climbed out.... Saturday morning Farmer's Market trips. Smiling seaside.... Hanging out... Biking.... Along the bike trail.... The girls baked Randy a giant cupcake for his birthday on July 17. Sharks teeth which we finally got pretty good at finding. We brought a whole cup home with us...and Yes...they are shark's teeth. Randy was able to stay with us until July 18....and when he left, it left a big hole in our hearts. We missed him...especially at sunset...and in the early morning...and....well, all the time. Shortly after Randy left to go home to work, Mom came down for a short visit. She is a shell lover so we made the drive down to Sanibel. I am not sure what kind of shell Mom was really looking to find...not sure she found it...but she did find many...and we enjoyed sharing our newfound piece of paradise with her. Mom's niece lives in Ft. Myers and was able to drive up to Sanibel and meet us for brunch. We were all pleasantly introduced to Johnny Ann. Sunsets.... The absolute wildest thing we did.....attend the Siesta Key drum circle.....quite interesting. Siesta Key...the Gooch girls plus Haley. We met Haley and her mom, Angie, at Aldea Mar and they became instant friends. When Haley's cousin, Lindsey flew in, she became one of our friends too. Amazing that the sunset is never the same and that I never tired of watching each one. My b-e-a-u-t-i-f-u-l girls. So very glad I got to spend every minute for a whole month with them! My morning travels.... There was a very cute 13 year old boy who reeled this shark in just after sunset one night. It was really on his little brother's pole....I'm sure the fact that there were opposite sex 13 year olds around made it much more interesting to assist his little bro! This heron lives on Venice Beach. She was there almost every day. McKayla McKenzie Hangin' out with dad! He finally came back! How could we not smile?? and smile beautifully, I might add. Happy 13th Birthday!! Celebrated at Sharkey's and again at Busch Gardens - Island of Adventure!!! Sunset Friends..... A last look on the morning of departure.

• Words could not add anything to the blessing of discovering such a beautiful place and such beautiful things....how truly blessed we were.