Jarryd James — Do You Remember
Beck — Cycle + Morning
Beck’s whole Morning Phase Album is the soundtrack to this summer for me. The boys and I listen to it every morning in the car. Emil knows all the words (well, the ones he didn’t make up himself). It’s a great album and worth checking out.
I’ve been taking loads of pictures lately, and realized I’ve really missed posting weekly portraits of the boys. While I’m not interested in posting weekly again, I wanted to share at least these three, which completely speak to our summer and where each boy is at this very moment.
Milo: A perpetual learning and moving machine, he is teaching himself all sorts of tricks with the Chinese yoyo.
Emil: Still enamored by his oldest brother, and also as quirky as can be, he dons a costume most days, always accompanied by one boot, or one sock, at a time.
Oliver: The most moved and inspired by food, he associates every available memory with what delicacy was available at the time… here he enjoys strawberries and homemade whipped cream (which he helped to make) for dessert.
I hope you have a beautiful weekend.
I recently made peach pie for the first time, loosely following this recipe. It turned out really well, especially when topped with fresh homemade whipped cream. If you’re into pie, trie this one! 
Black, white, black, white… it’s the story of how I dress these days. Sometimes shades of white: cream, optic bright white, or in this case, dirty white. Cool, breathable cotton, never polyester, rarely linen (too wrinkly for me). This is my favorite thing to wear in the summer: a dress, flats, sunglasses, rings and a bracelet. Done. Throw on bright red lipstick if I’m going out at night, and that’s it! 
Ah, summer. I’ve been enjoying a little more time to myself this week while the boys live it up at summer camp. Errands, reading, baking, browsing books at the library, writing a bit, lingering at coffee shops and seeing friends during the day– it all feels like a nice treat, and then I pick up my boys in the afternoon who are sun-kissed and smiling, busy creating great childhood summer memories! It’s been a good week so far. Happy Wednesday!
This past weekend, we took Andrew’s niece Lizzy bowling at Pin-Up Bowl, a great old-school (and small, with only 8 lanes) bowling alley on The Loop. Since it is within walking distance from our house, we usually take a nice long stroll to get there, but the kids were pretty tuckered out from a long day of swimming, so this time we drove and shared a big root beer float (which was gone in 5 minutes flat) at Fitz’s beforehand. 
We’ve never experienced any wait here, even on the weekends. I love that they have a martini bar and vintage decor, and also that they have a jukebox for some pretty great music. It has a really fun, hip place with little imperfections (the lanes are sloped, I swear) that make for a fun bowl (don’t come here for a serious bowling competition, come for fun!). The kids had so much fun, and Oliver even got a strike and a few spares! He was also very into the dance music. 
Celebratory dance moves
I think my favorite part of this evening was watching Oliver hit his groove and win the whole game after he had experienced a really rough day feeling left out the day before. It was so heartwarming to see everyone cheering him on, and he was really good about not rubbing his victory in anyone’s face. He’s such a sweet boy, really. 
It was a fun night and a great way to bond as a family. We’ll be back soon!