Gordon College Homecoming - Russell Orchards & Crane Beach

a dear friend of mine came up for homecoming. she has a lovely blog here.

we spent part of the day at russell orchards and crane's beach.

it was lovely.

here's a picture i snapped & edited of her adorable son Behr.

if i get it together, i made add a few more lovely pictures. Sam & Behr had such a great time together.

Sam kept saying "behr" all day. even after we parted ways.

it's great to meet up with long-time friends.

and even better when our kids are friends!

a summer day

this summer i try to take advantage of my crane's beach sticker.
it's not always easy.
i work.
my son has a "schedule".
my "beach time" is usually his "dinner time".
some days i'm too tired to go to the beach.
i worked from 8am-5pm.
it's too much work to pack a few snacks, bathing suits, towel.
too much work to pack our things in the car.
too much work to lug it all onto the beach.
but, when i do it.
it's worth it.
i relax.
i listen to the sound of the water.
i feel the sand beneath my toes.
i watch sam chase the seagulls.
i watch sam splash into the water [even though it's 60 F].
we hang out.
we build sandcastles.
we splash.
we snack.
we do it again.
we go home.
sam falls asleep in the car.

What to do when it's 90 degrees out

Sam's new sleeping spot

Wednesday it was 99 degrees.

So hot.

I love warm weather, but it was too hot for me.

After a day working (in my home office with broken A/C) I was ready to cool off.

I took Sam, a friend, and two of Sam's babysitters to the beach.

Crane's Beach.

It was heavenly. We were only there for about an hour, but it was just enough to cool off.

Do we have to leave mom?

Sam was so sad to leave.

And so was I.

An ecstatic Sam

 Yesterday, I was working again.

The fans were on high and it was tolerable - in shorts & a t-shirt.

Hopefully we can fix our A/C OR get a new window unit SOON - so far stores have been sold out due to the heat wave.

On the positive, maybe we're using a little less electricity?

I don't know how people managed w/out air conditioning!

After work, I decided to take Sam to the beach again.

Solo trip.

He was ecstatic.

He met a few little kids.

He ran in the tidal pools.

He ran into the ocean.

He splashed.

He squealed.

He had a snack.

He chased seagulls.

He loved every bit.

And then he sat down.

And cried.

He was tired.

We were there for 2.5 hours.

We got home at 8pm.

It was dinner & bath quick.

Sam was asleep pretty quickly.

I don't mind the heat when I have a fabulous place to cool off.

I am so thankful we live near a beach.

I am thankful I have a beach sticker.

I am thankful said beach is amazing for kids & adults alike.

so tired.

 Happy summer! Glad midsommar and longest day of the year (yesterday)!

Now the days will be shorter.

A little bit of nothing...

It's been months since I've last posted.

Part of me loves writing.

I would love to write daily.

About everything and nothing.

But honestly, I'm not at that point in my life right now.

Caleb is in grad school (he's done in September-ish).

I work full-time (70% of the time from home).

I take care of Sam full-time.

Don't ask how I do it all.

I don't.

I do take it one day at a time.

And I'm making the most of being in the moment.

If I'm working all day, the last thing I want to do in the evening is script a blog post... unless of course Sam is sleeping and Caleb is studying, which is the case tonight.

I have a DSLR.
I LOVE to take pictures.

I don't love lugging it around while trying to chase an almost 2 year old.

So I use my wonderful, lovely, amazing, iPhone.

(I have a problem. More on that & being in the moment in another post.)

Anyway, the iPhone takes amazing pictures.

Honestly, not all the pictures are going to be blown up to poster size and hung in Sam's room, the living room, the kitchen, the hallway, our bedroom...

Honestly, in my life today, I'm lucky if I print any pictures.

(Seriously, my desk at work has pictures when Sam was 6 months old, I'm telling you, I take it one day at a time, and let's face it I don't make it to CVS/online photostore/etc to print - but I do make the time to back up my beloved images, seriously that's important!)

So here is a snapshot since my last post (unedited, b/c I'm not willing to take more time to edit).

The below are April and May.

I'll save June for another post...

Sam LOVES animals, especially dogs.

Proof. There is the iPhone. Blue Hills, MA

Getting a ride, Easter Sunday at Blue Hills.

My Precious Grandma. So thankful I'm able to spend time with her!

Chebacco Woods. A favorite place to walk.

Loves the beach!

Seriously. Loves IT! This was APRIL people.

He kept running toward the ocean water... so I carried him away from it.

Blowing bubbles... in the salty sandy water. LOVES it! (to quote a famous person I know-KMC)

Another beach day in April

His reading lesson, or flip through the pages by myself lesson

Daddy's slippers

Dad & Sam at Crane's

Two peas in a pod

Snuggles after being in the *cold* water

Rainy day splash time with mommy

Big Splashes

Smiles & yogurt face

Just Another Day In Paradise...

Before Caleb came home from India, we had a beach photo session with Sam.
Here are a few unedited photos for your viewing pleasure. :)
Hopefully I'll update the blog about Caleb's trip to India, our trip to Sweden, our trip to France, Summer's wedding and Sammy's first birthday (which was on Friday, but the party is this Saturday).
Until then.
Here are a few beachy photos... from my fave beach. Chappy.
And Sammy is oh so proud in the life guard chair.

{well hello there}

{climbing up the stand}

{sand is delish}

{oh so proud of himself}

{checking out the views}

{saving lives}

{headed for the ocean}

{nekked baby at sunset}

swimming to India

sam checking out the waves

walking in the sand with mommy

Caleb left for India today.

Sam and I will be missing him mucho.

But hopefully we'll be doing some of the following:

1) texting

2) emailing

3) calling

4) SKYPING!!!

Today I helped get Caleb on his way and then worked.

When I came home, I was greeted by Sam who crawled to me in record time. We had dinner and took a little swim in the ocean. Sam LOVED it!

It was his first time actually in the ocean. Unfortunately, we haven't been able to go sooner, but today was a success. Sam LOVED the sand. Then, we put him at the water's edge and he thought it was just great. Since I grew up on the ocean and LOVED going to the beach, I'm so glad to have a little boy who seems to have the same appreciation for the ocean as I do.

sitting in the sand for the first time and the verdict is out. he likes it!

sam's on a mission... ocean here he comes.

 

taking a dip in the ocean, sheer joy on his face

hugs for mommy

sam walking in the waves

Sammy Swimming to India

Above is a link to a video of Sam crawling towards one of my first loves. The ocean. I think he wanted to swim to his dad in India. Well, his dad wasn't quite there yet, but he will be tomorrow. Hope you enjoy. And thanks to my Dad (morfar) and my brother (uncle Pete) for making the video possible, ie making sure Sam didn't drown!
(note: my frantic voice as I'm recording Sam's crawl into the ocean and a wave splashes over him. Uncle Pete came to the rescue)

sweet summertime

a few things to describe summer bliss...

• the beach
• flip flops
• sunny days & long nights
• crane's beach
• chappy
• ice-cream
• grilling outside
• corn on the cob
• strawberries, raspberries, blueberries... all things berries...
  

oh how i heart the summer




i could go on... but i'll save it for another post on another day...

hiatus

so... i took a little blogging hiatus...

haven't really thought about blogging in quite some time...

here's an update since our big announcement :)


baby alpine incubating at 30 weeks.

i'm now 32 weeks pregnant - for all of those non-preggo peeps... that means i'm 8 months baked. i have 8 weeks until my due date... we'll see when baby alpine decides to make an appearance...

so far i've been feeling great. i've been hiking, walking, running (well, that was a few weeks ago), swimming A LOT and doing other exercises to try to stay in shape. my favorite is swimming at chappy. it's soooo relaxing, i feel weightless in the water (which is important for a pregnant woman, believe me), and it's good exercise.

one thing i learned since becoming pregnant is that my ligaments loosen up, supposedly makes it easier to pass a child through... well, having loose ligaments makes us (pregnant people) more prone to injury... so swimming is easier on the ligaments...

alpine hiccups ALLLLLL the time... it's kind of an uncomfortable feeling, but i can't complain... the whole pregnancy has been smooth and alpine is healthy! yesterday i counted alpine had the hiccups 5 different times!!! and it can last for 20 minutes...

anyway... not much more exciting to report...

healthy baby, healthy mama, loving summer :)

sunset at chappy

here is yet another shot at creating a timelapse...

i didn't hold the camera entirely still, hence it didn't come out so smooth...

this was actually my first attempt at a timelapse and oh do i love the sunset at chappy :)

Sven Jansson

today i was thinking about my morfar...



so i wanted to write a post in memory of him...

Sven Jansson, my morfar is my mother's father - well, he passed away, but he will always be my mom's dad.

morfar = mother's father (direct translation from swedish to english)

where was i?

oh yes...

the memories i have of my morfar...

him teaching me how to drive his stick shift 1990 Volvo on a frozen Lake Siljan days after i turned 16
gardening with him; his favorite part of the garden were his potatoes
him driving me to and from Granberget daily to ski & snowboard
him driving me to the first day of school at Leksands Gymnasium because i was too nervous to take the bus
learning how to bake bread from scratch in an old-fashioned oven - my brothers and i called it pizza bread - it was only recently i learned it's called "mjukbulla" or "softbun"

learning how to bake many things delicious
building sandcastles on martha's vineyard on one of his visits to America
bodysurfing at Chapoquoit Beach, Marconi Beach and many other beaches...
always having candy in his glove compartment of his 1990 Volvo
my brother Peter stating Bompa Gigi = translation morfar candy b/c he knew morfar kept candy in the glove compartment oif his volvo
orienteering with my morfar
telling morfar about Jesus
spending as much time as possible with my mormor and morfar during summer 2007 because i had a feeling it may be his last visit to America
i was right, he passed away May 2008
morfar meeting caleb during the summer of 2007; so glad this happened
going into the woods early in the morning to pick blueberries for me and my brothers to have for breakfast in 2006 on our first morning in sweden; when he came in he said "ja, man börjar att känna man är gammal" (yes, i'm beginning to feel old)
celebrating santa lucia with morfar in 2003 with my family and friend Mary Beth because it was his birthday
him surprising me with a season pass to Granberget for my christmas present from him and mormor December 1998
him and mormor driving me to Karlstad Universitet where i spent a semester of college in Karlstad, Sweden
wishing he could have seen the picture of Caleb proposing on Granberget June 2008
wishing he could have accompanied my mormor to my wedding October 2008
knowing he would have been so happy that Caleb proposed in Sweden; that we had a candy bar at our wedding; that the wedding ceremony was so personal; he would have danced with me; and he would have laughed
wishing he would have been able to meet my kids... (no, i don't have any children yet; they're in the someday plans for now)
oh how i miss his laugh, i wish i had recorded it, he was such a wonderful person
he was kind, friendly, non-judgmental, athletic, outdoorsy, helpful, a team player, a caring father, a loving husband, a wonderful brother, an unforgettable Morfar.
morfar, you are missed.
my trip to sweden wasn't the same without you.
my previous trip to sweden for your funeral was strange.
i know you're in heaven; i look forward to seeing you when the time comes; i hope you're having fun orienteering, picking blueberries, growing potatoes, swimming and building sand castles. i'm sure you're having a grand old time. make sure you save a spot for mormor. she misses you.
don't worry though, i'm going to keep her company as often as i can.
we spent time together for my birthday this year. i'll never forget it.
you married an incredible woman.
i miss you.
i love you.
your barnbarn sara linnéa

[ps-this will be edited with pictures once i can compile a few; just wanted my thoughts to the keyboard before i forgot]

family

caleb's been studying a lot lately... and to pass time i read, watch tv, waste time on the internet, visit w/friend, find things to do around our apartment... lately it goes like this...

i go to work 8am-5pm (sometimes later)
C leaves for work at 8:30am or 9am, C comes home from work at 6pm, we have a quick dinner and C goes to the library and comes home around 11:15pm...

so you can imagine my excitement today when my cousin invited me over for dinner... it's great having family nearby :) (her husband was meeting up w/a business friend and wouldn't be home)

she made enchiladas :) yum!!

she has two adorable girls...

this was taken september 2008 - we took a rainy trip to singing beach :)



one of the girls was our flower girl last year...



so we had dinner, i got to spend time talking with my cousin, and i got to hang out w/her adorable girls... much better way to spend an evening rather than wasting away on the internet...

when i showed up, her two girls RAN to the front door shrieking, they were so excited :)
they kept interrupting each other to tell me stories of their day and fighting to sit on my lap.
later after they were tucked in bed; my cousin and i got to relax on the couch and talk about grown up things.