L'Herbe Spirale

How many times have you been putting the finishing touches on that pizza or salad dressing and thought "Damn! I could really use some fresh basil! Or "A handful of rosemary would kick my butt right now!" Or "Nothing like a muddling of lemon balm to perfect a made-to-order gin cocktail!" Well now you can. If you're at my house anyway.

Observe this year's herb spiral, where within mere steps of the front door I can harvest (in order from the top o' the spiral) fresh rosemary, dill, basil, cilantro, echinachea, oregano, sage, calendula, thyme, chives, lavender (still admittedly a bit of a runt - observe what looks to be a vast patch of bare soil in that spot), parsley, lemon balm, and hyssop. The only true fail so far this year has been cumin. I spit in your face, cumin! I didn't want you anyway! I'm totally picking cilantro for the A Team from now on.

Anyone else have something cool they're doing in their garden?

A Trip Down Golden Lane

The Cedarleaf family cabin sits at the end of Golden Lane on Golden Lake. I'm not kidding. Who wouldn't want to spend a long weekend at a sweet little stuga down Golden Lane?! Not to mention our trip was spent with my dear parents and sister and brother's families at this very special place. My family has been trekking out to Golden Lake since before I was born - even all the way from Portland when we lived there, a mere 36 hour drive each way. It was and always is worth it.

Learning to pump on the new kids' swing with Gaga

Chris whipped out this "stocking cap" for Phelan when we were greeted with cold, wind & rain after packing for hot lake weather.

Reading with Dad

Snuggling in the sling with Mama

Cousin Sanne was thrilled at all the baby-sized stuff we brought for Phelan...and her baby dolls.

Stories with Boompa

Ellis caught four (tiny) fish and even "the one that got away," a biggie that put up a little too good of a fight for Ellis to reel in.

This year, with Ellis, Owain and Sanne all over the age of 2, there were more shenanigans and good times among the cousins, bringing back memories of my own "firsts" at Golden...fishing with Grandpa Cedarleaf (now fishing with Boompa), looking for tadpoles and minnows in the shallows, throwing and collecting rocks on the shore, snatching cookies from the kitchen, swimming until it was too late and too cold to be in the water any longer, staying up late and scratching mosquito bites in my sleep. It is always so hard to leave, and I watched Ellis struggle with saying goodbye ("but why can't we just stay here forever?") just as I always have when we finally make the bittersweet drive back down Golden Lane. 'Til next year...

Thursday in the Park with Owain

SUCH a treat. Jay's band had a gig in Phoenix Park last night - an outdoor venue located in Eau Claire. Our friends Don & Joni and Kristi, Dan and their kiddos Otto, Abram and Gracie all came, along with many of Jay's co-workers. The event was a smashing success thanks to perfect weather, that mellow outdoor wine-drinking vibe, and of course killer tunes. Jay added a guitar and a singer to this round to make the tunes more funky-soul accessible, and he was right on target, because people (including his son) danced their feet off.

It was a perfect night.

Owain keeping his eyes on the prize with radiant Joni in the background

Rollin' on the river

Watch out son, you're gonna hurt yourself

This boy bleeds jazz... both of them

Pictures are worth a thousand words, right?

Because I have time to post a few snaps from the last couple of days, but the accompanying narrative just might have to wait. Here are our children in their finest form - sleepy, snuggly, smiley, silly, sprinkler-lovin' boys.

Sleepy Phelan

Day 1

I wish I could take credit for eliciting this face, but alas, it's a happy sleep smile. Lucky for us, we are blessed with a lot of these little nap-time grins.

Brothers

Sli-ip!...

...slip-n-slide!

Freshly mown lawn + sprinkler + slip-n-slide = grass-dipped kids

More

Perhaps Phelan's time in utero helped to prepare him for the screaming children who reside in this house, because so far it doesn't seem to phase him one iota.