Living, Loving, Learning

Hello Dear Ones, I feel like I have been quiet on the blog lately. We have had a lot going on, life is so good. Thought I would take a few minutes on this quiet Sunday morning to write an update. Carla Bruni on the stereo, nag champa burning close by, fresh coffee in hand, happy kids playing in their rooms - a perfect morning. Griffin is doing excellently in school. His reading skills are increasing by leaps and bounds and his cognitive skills are sharpening. He has an excellent teacher, Ms. Wright, who plans amazing projects for kids. On Friday she had a bunch of sand trays filled with buried fossils and the kids got to be paleontologists and dig and put together dinosaur skeletons....you wanna see a classroom FULL of happy 6 year olds, WOW! I am volunteering in the classroom with another Mom every Friday afternoon and I love it. I love supporting our teacher and school, I love seeing Griffin interact with the other kids and getting to know them, I love being present in h...

A friend of mine (thanks, Cassie !) shared a link with me to make this skirt . The pattern asserts that you can make it in 20 minutes. I took that as a challenge and yesterday afternoon I pulled out some supplies and went to it. It took me about 25 mins. but I was having some elastic issues. I thought it was a titch plain when I finished it, so I chose a font I liked and printed out her name as largely as I could. I took that paper to Staples and enlarged it x200. That made it the perfect size. I then traced it with a pencil onto the skirt and hand embroidered it. I love the way it turned out. Now to find a shirt to wear with it!! And maybe some aqua leg warmers it the fall.

A while back, Griffin won tickets to a local amusement park. Yesterday we decided to use them. It was an absolutely fantastic family day. The park was only about 2 hours from the house and for $10 it had an air-conditioned kennel for Lottie. That was a great resource so that we could stay all day at the park and not worry about her at home. We just went over every few hours and took her for a little walk around their dog yard. Although, I wouldn't recommend taking a two-year-old to an amusement park, we made the best of it and Lucy had a fantastic time. There were a lot of little kid rides spread throughout the park that Lucy and Griffin could ride together. For some of the bigger rides, Bruce or I would take Griffin while the other one did Lucy things. This dropping ride was definitely one of Griffin's favorites! He was an inch too short for a lot of the bigger coasters but that was alright with him, he is somewhat cautious about such things. These ones were just ...

Brother is at school all day, finally it is Lucy's turn to lick the spoon! I think she is enjoying her one-on-one time with Mama.

We attended a "Fancy Nancy" themed birthday party yesterday. Lucy and I took full advantage of an opportunity to dress up and loved it!! Unfortunately, Griffin is down with a cold so Bruce kept him at home and Lucy and I went. We had a great time but surprisingly Lucy was the only girl who dressed up!!! The invitation even said to. Sigh..that is the Gast kids, perpetually over dressed....I am crazy or maybe we are just having more fun than everyone else. Maybe both! ;)

And he's off. Yeah, I cried. It was a little easier this year, but it still hurts to let him go. He didn't even need me to walk him in today! He has been asking for a mohawk all summer so we recently let him cut it into a faux-hawk...he totally digs it! I can't wait till 3 to pick him up and here all about his new adventure!

Our summer library friends in the place we like to have lunch on Wednesdays: Carlie, Lucy, Jacob, Griffin, Jenna, Myles and Gabe. We will miss the bigun's this fall! Well, that is about all the vacation photos I have. The last day we spent at the beach and then had a HUGE seafood feast...especially enjoyed by those who like seafood. There were oysters and clams and lobsters, oh my. It was a nice time to be with family and friends one last night. We took off on Saturday morning early to drive the two days home...and here we are. I can't believe that it is the end of summer officially, Griffin starts first grade tomorrow! We went to orientation last night and met his wonderful teacher, Ms. Wright. Griffin also realized that a few kids from his class last year, his best buddy from last year, a good friend from pre-school, a good friend from the library and a good friend from soccer are all in his class. He is soooo excited to get started. I volunteered to help the teacher prepare...

Sooooo, I got my nose (re) pierced while on vacation. I actually had it done by the AHHHHMAZING Bearded Lady of Provincetown . I had heard about her skillz and fame when I had been there last summer. She is kind of a celebrity around town and last summer Sara and I saw her walking down the street with her sweet doggie, Peg, and nearly crashed the car out of excitement. We would not have been as excited if Lady Gaga had been walking down the street, I think. The Lady was a riot, fun and full of attitude. I don't think she liked us so much at first, she was a tough nut to crack, but by the end I think she loved us right back! Leo and Bruce did a great job of watching the shop and playing with Peg while Sara videoed me. Here are the videos. I will warn you, they do show me getting pierced. There is no blood, but it still might not be something you want burned in your brain. You've been warned. I wanted my nose pierced for so many reasons. First, I love the way it looks, it makes...

One morning the Moms volunteered to stay home with the wee ones and 3 of us couples went on a whale watching trip. Bruce was the most stoked about this I think. It was what he wanted to do to celebrate his birthday that week. When he was a kid he wanted to grow up to be Jacques Cousteau. We had a beautiful morning and the hour boat ride out into the ocean was peaceful and relaxing. The seas were smooth and a few of us took a motion sickness preventatives and no one even felt the slightest bit ill. We were lucky enough to see Minke whales, Humpback whales, seals and jumping tuna. We were especially thankful for one young humpback who spent about 20 minutes playing all around our boat. It was an amazing moment to be apart of. Just think, that goes on all day, everyday, and if we are lucky we can witness it once in our lifetime! We made some great memories that we will carry with us forever!! After the boated docked again in Provincetown we were able to have a nice lunch, jus...

I forgot to mention, my sister Sara has a ton of great full moon pictures on her blog too! 'Cause you just can't get enough of our family reunion! HAHA

One of the most incredible times we had on vacation was the night of the full moon when we went down to the beach to watch the sun set, moon rise and have a bonfire. The kids had a great time and were perfect until 10:30!! We were amazed. The beach offers them seemingly endless amusement. Lottie also loved the beach! She loves to dig and relished the ability to do it anytime, anywhere. She also made several pals on the dog-friendly beach. Here she is playing with a puppy very similar in look and size with her. This was such a great week to socialize her with so many new people, animals and circumstances. She is growing up to be a fantastic dog! Granny, Alethia and Lucy Sara and Anthony The tribe Still in love....

One day we took a nice walk through a gorgeous golf course, past a cute lighthouse to a point overlooking the ocean. It was a great place for some photos. Of course, one person was always looking crazy in every picture of our family. Alexis and her super rad S.O. Jay....Love him! This is the first chance we had to meet him and we were so happy to do so. He is a wonderful dude and he fits right in with the tribe. AND, he is fantastic with the kids, both of them are still talking about him. The Amors. Again, so hard to get a good picture with two little kids! This was Alethia during her picture protest. Sooooo cute!

Lucy and Granny A day at the beach...actually many days were spent at the beach. I had no idea how much my kids LOVED this. Made me have to shut up about the sand in my bathing suit and the glaring sun and just enjoy sitting under the umbrella watching them have the time of their life. Lucy and Alethia Jessica and Masami Lucy and Masami Lucy, Granny, Griffin Many wonderful memories made, many beautiful shells collected.

Off we went, headed north through Kentucky, West Virginia, Maryland and into PA in the first day. Lottie had a decent amount of space in the back and she got plenty of walks and attention at every stop. Our first stop was to visit my Grandma in Lancaster, PA. She is starting to suffer from Alzheimer's and it was super important to me to see her this summer. We had a really special visit with her and her husband, Ken. I think she enjoyed showing off her cute great-grand kids to her friends! She lives in an amazing place, Ken calls it a cruise ship in a cornfield and that is exactly what it feels like. We spent time in their apartment, had breakfast with them, and got the grand tour of the facilities. It was hard to leave after spending just one evening and one morning with them, but I actually think the timing was just about perfect for Grandma. So, we said goodbye Saturday afternoon and started on the second leg of our journey through PA, NJ, NY, CT, RI and MA. Connecticut w...

We are home from our travels...whew. Feels good, but we are lonely for our beloveds we had to say goodbye to. I thought I would sneak in a crafty post while I take a day or two to process my vacation photos. I recently finished my third quilted wall hanging. This one was for my sister Alexis' birthday. Yeah, that was back in April but I got behind, then I hurt my arm....yada yada yada. I gave it to her last week at the Cape. I think she loved it. I know I sure loved making it for her. I had a vision of what I wanted to make so I painted it with watercolors first. Then I pulled together the materials I needed and got started sewing. I texturized the tree with embroidery stitches, the new spring leaves are beads and the roots are yarn. Alexis totally inspired me to make this exact piece. I felt like I may not be able to verbally express myself well, so as I was creating, I took notes of what I was thinking. Then I sewed a little pocket on the back, transcribed my note...