How I Spent My Summer Vacation

I don't always work in the summer, but this year I got lucky!  I got to do a preschool music program at the museum where I work the rest of the year.  It was the first time we've tried a program like this, so it was new for everyone.  I thought it went very well, and I even got to be in our local newspaper, and got a letter from the mayor about it.  

It ran for six weeks and last week was my first week off!  I went to Cape Cod with my family.  We spent most of our time on the National Seashore.  My daughter's favorite thing is the "big waves," and we hear about them all year.  She swims and boogie boards for hours and hours, and I join in too.  

We also took her to Provincetown for the first time, and went to Carnival, which is something none of us had experienced before.  Thanks to Project Runway, Esme already knows all about drag queens, and how much goes into their elaborate costumes.  The people on the street before the parade were just as awesome as the parade itself.  

When I got home, I had a box from Sassafras Lass waiting for me!  When they closed up shop I was super disappointed that I'd never ordered one of their warehouse boxes so when this chance came up I jumped on it.  Love all my flowers, patterned papers, felties, foldies, etc.  So now I want to get to work!  I took lots of pics on vacaction so it's time for me to get scrapping!

Adult Time

 

Our daughter is away at camp, and my husband had the first four days of this week off!  We had a wonderful time together.  We shot off some fireworks in our yard, went out to eat, went and visited a waterfall, swam in the lake, read together, listened to music, went to a city fireworks display, went out for ice cream, etc.  Time alone with him is extra precious to me because most of the year we work opposite shifts and don't see each other very much.  It can be very hard - I spend a lot of time missing him.  So four uninterrupted days together was such a gift!

That said, we really missed our daughter too!  He went back to work on Thursday and lucky my best friend, Lisa, was there to help me beat the missing-Esme blues.  She met me at a scrapbook store that is equally distance from our houses.  Time with Lisa is also very precious since we live an hour and a half apart.

Here's the layout I did - these photos are of my niece around this time last summer.  I have been hoarding some 6 by 6 paper pads so I broke one of them out for the patterned paper on this one.  I also used Doodlebug stickers, BasicGrey rubons, and a Simple Stories bingo card.

Painted Rocks and My Vacation

I spent most of this week on Cape Cod. I almost always take some kind of little art project with me - often ATC size, and this year, after seeing all the lovely painted rocks on Pinterest, I just took a bottle of white paint and a paintbrush.




I love the simplicity of white on rock. These were just playful and fun - I may work up to a more serious similar project at some point. Right now I have to sneak in a little creativity wherever I can - it's been a busy summer!

I had a great week and mostly enjoyed spending time with my family. We all loved Marconi Beach, part of the National Seashore. The waves were huge and we got to see whales breaching in the distance. This photo is of Esme and me on the sandbar that appears at low tide at Scusset Beach - probably about to start searching for hermit crabs.



I also loved the simplicity of just sitting around with my husband. He got me two books at The Odyssey to read on the trip - the new biography of Juliette Gordon Low and The Monsters of Templeton. Of course I enjoyed the biography - it's the third one I've read about the founder or Girl Scouts, and still gave me some new tidbits I'd never heard. I enjoyed the novel as well. It was a bit predictable in places, but I loved the way the author wove in the family's history with the modern story.

My family got great news yesterday - my husband has been extended through the summer at his job! This is big news because we both get laid off for summer, and we were very concerned about finding summer employment this year. We're ready to book our summer trip - we want to go back to Sandwich this year, for some camping and swimming . In celebration, I'm sharing the ATCs I painted last year while we were there. I can't wait to have the sand in my toes again, and to float down the canals on noodles with Esme at Boardwalk Beach!