Taking this long odyssey with the boys to immerse them in cousin fun gives me opportunity to stand back and watch the miracle of boys doing what they do best: play. There’s hardly a pleasure I can find that I prefer more than to watch this miracle play out. It satisfies something deep in me … Continue reading The boys of Summer
After our week rental at the beach expired we piled all our goods into the van, stuffed in the six of us with Lucy at our feet, strapped on the bikes and drove north. After extreme play at the beach the boys were content to lean back, plug up with the ipods or handheld video games and … Continue reading Lake Leelanau, Michigan
Great Grandma has never missed a family reunion in the twenty years I’ve joined the tradition. She wasn’t going to miss it this year even though doing stairs is impossible without a few people assisting her.(Fortunately this three story beach house has an elevator.) She’s bright, lively and fun as ever. The kids like playing … Continue reading 96 years young
A few of the kids are drawn to conquering the perfect skim board ride. They will reapproach the waves for hours, in fact yesterday in 58 degree water (yikes, ouch) they spent more than four hours of the afternoon perfecting their form. When I appear with my mamarazzi camera they pull out the plug on cool and … Continue reading Surfer Dudes with ‘tudes and one Cool Chick
As we are sharing a house with 26 people for the week, it’s easy to imagine not only the chaos but the dilemmas which arise to feed this many and those challenges. Long ago we came up with an easy plan. Each family has their night to shop, cook and clean up. Once a week that’s … Continue reading Italian Night with the LaTorres
This evening, a Saturday, Donny offered to take his brothers to see a movie at the theater. They are going to see the Karate Kid, of course, because a couple of them are karate kids and one is a wannabe. We’ll be in trouble with Jack tomorrow, we’ll never hear the end of when we’re going … Continue reading The brotherhood
I feel like a kid when…I strap on my rollerblades at the trails, clip on my ipod and disappear from adult life for an hour. In Arizona I took a blade every morning while the sun rose in the skyin bright orange and gold over the dusty mountains. Nothing here in Texas about the sky inspires … Continue reading I feel like a kid when…
I was in college when nike began the ‘just do it’ campaign to get people out exercising. I was teaching my first classes in aerobics and I used to think ‘just do it’ all the time when I heard people moan and whine about fitting in exercise, and then it became their slogan so I … Continue reading ‘just do it’ works
Mzungu Mama 