Straight From the Bottle

That's just lovely.

I've always felt that I did something right in creating a home that makes the kids so comfortable that it's their favorite place to be and that makes me proud.  I offer every day to take them anyplace they'd like:  The zoo, a museum, the aquarium.... But more often than not they say, "We just want to stay home!"

And it's my favorite place, too.  It's nice to know other people are having that kind of summer also.  Thanks for sharing!

Yup! Totally agree. A summer at home is a lovely summer indeed. :) Much love!

perfect! francoise hardy in the backgroud? we just busted out the record player just for her!

This summer has been the same for us, in the past is was about surviving the days, this summer is has been about enjoying just being together. Awesome.

Sigh. Francoise Hardy is our muse 'round here.

HOLY OVARIES.  "Baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby" by The Incredible Fable is the feel-good hit of the summer!

Dude!

My husband and I are currently in that "Should we have babies?? No! Not Yet!!! But maybe???? Swoon babies! Wait-No!!" Farce that most couples go through.

On the way to work this morning I'm mentally checklisting reasons why we're just not ready yet.

And then I get to work and watch Fable all "baby baby baby" and archer all coloring his complicated drawings and now I want to call my hubby and say, "Hey-find a way to get sick at work so we can meet at home! We must have babies! Today! Right now!"

Dude?

You are not helping! *wink*

Constellation, it was the piggies in Fable's hair that had me calling my husband and saying, BABIES!  I need BABIES!

This has always been my favorite part about summer with kids, no rushing to be anywhere.  We have all the time in the world to color and swim and veg and giggle in the warm sunshine.

You guys clearly don't live in Maine, where summer is when you have to suck the marrow and all that, so it's nonstop BEACH LAKE ICE CREAM MINIGOLF all summer long, then we collapse in a heap and hunker down for eight months.

Wow, Fable has grown up so much lately!

This is a fabulous post. This new house has really been the last little thing that you guys needed in order to achieve total bliss and overall relative balance, isn't it? I'm really happy for you.

And thinking hard about how I could make our family life (3 1/2 year old boy + 5 months preggers with probably girl) more like that. My childhood summers were very similar and PERFECT.

I love Fable looking amazed at the book sitting in the Ikea chair.

I read every single one of your posts (on both blogs) and yet I am still dumbstruck by how BIG Fable is suddenly!  She is an amazing little girl!

The unstructured days of summer really are the best aren't they?  Enjoy them...the schedule will return soon enough.

i always thought one of the best things about summer was the ability to do nothing for days at a time. some of my favorite childhood memories are of me and my mom just chillin' at home, walking in the woods or splashing in the creek or eating popsicles or reading on the patio. so nice to see you enjoying the house and enjoying each other.

A care-free summer is the best. Looks like Archer & Fable are having a great summer. I love how in the last three photos, Fable has all the tops off of the markers. Hehe. Looks like she's going to be an artist...like you. ;o)

We've had a hot humid summer (no AC or backyard!) so we are FORCED to spend the days at the beach. Terrible, I know.

Fable looks so damn cute with those pig tails.

(ps-do you guys do Mandalas? They are super cool coloring thingies. We LOVE them. They are very calming and meditative. You can order them from Amazon.)

THIS, THIS is our house too. Lately, I've started calling it "mucking about." I stole the phrase from a story in a British paper about "idle parenting" which argues against over scheduling kids in favor of just letting them be: explore, create, imagine. We're awesome at "mucking about" here.

The author of the piece advocates a little more detached style than I'm comfortable with but the central premise holds.

You can read the story from The Telegraph here:

www.telegraph.co.uk/.../Idle-parenting-means-happy-children.html

Oh my goodness, Rebecca. That first video? That's what it's all about. Those are the memories they will cherish forever. I'm so happy you all are having such a gorgeous summer. Enjoy it. Soak it up and know you are one blessed mama! :) These are the days.....

Also? Fable looks adorable with those pigtails. And I'm pretty sure she's ready for a baby sister/brother;)

Loved reading this.  My husband and I are having the kid discussion right now and one of my biggest fears is whether  I will actually enjoy being a mother.  I never liked babysitting as a teen.  I love my nieces and nephews, but always felt a little awkward around them when they were little.  I fear that I am not patient or nurturing enough to be a mother.  But your Summer sounds really lovely.  It sounds like something I would regret not having.  Thank you for that.  

my favorite memories as a kid involve this sort of thing. Basically doing nothing but being free to let the muse take us. My family never did day camps like a lot of people, summer wasn't a time for a lot of activities except road trip vacations and swim team. It was a time for me to read ALL day long, or anything else my sister and brother and I could think of. I'm glad you are finding such happiness in hanging out at home.

This made me want to bust out some bubbles and Francoise Hardy (although Vashti Bunyan has my muse for the summer) and reinvent the way I feel about summer (I've generally hated it, with our 115 degree Arizona heat).

Also, I was reading this with Jack in my lap and when we watched the videos he smiled so big and kept saying "again! again!" Methinks somebody has a crush on Fable...

Wow. I have been quietly reading your blog for ages and when I saw your new house and your blogs on the move and decorating, I just felt so good for you guys. Summer is fantastic in Africa. And it is so cool that you are able to steal more than just the weekends to chill with the kids. I promised myself that every 4 months, I would take a 'sick day' with my son and we would do 'home chilling' because it is memorable. I feel it is okay to do that when we work mad hours for the rest of the time. Your blog reminds me to book that date!  

Love this post - what a perfect summer you guys are having.  The dancing/drawing technique is perfection.  Love the extend-o arms too....I bet he drew one awesome car!!!

That sounds like my very best childhood memories of summer. My mom was a school teacher, so we had the summers off together. I have such awesome memories of reading, playing in the little plastic swimming pool, stringing beans, and maybe taking a trip to Mr. Duke's store up at the end of the street for candy. Good times. Good times!

OMG Fable in pigtails! That brings this post from awesome to awesome-tastic. We agree, my two boys and I have been doing a lot of hanging out at home enjoying the slower pace of life. It's too hot to fun around like crazies. As the song goes... "Summertime.... and the livin' is easy."

Oh, I'm so happy for your family in your new house and your perfect summer of nothingness. We have been in our new house since January, but all of its splendor really came to light this summer. We love just being here, especially out back.

Thank you so much for sharing the videos too! Archer and Fable are both beautiful and seem like so much fun.

I'm at an age that when I was kid, there was very little organized activities in the summer - it was do some chores in the house and then play till you drop -which involved playing school with your siblings and friends, building forts on the side of the house and creating mud pies, running up and down the block playing a slew of different games, riding your bike and pretending it was a horse and you were out on a range,  sitting alone under a tree and reading so many books that took your imagination to so many other worlds.  I crave those summers again - when we think about vacation time now, we think of where we should go and what we should see and it's wonderful to see the world outside your area. But, it's equally wonderful to stay at home and enjoy. You are building wonderful memories for the kids and also for yourself.

Awesome.  Nothing is best enjoyed with your kids.

lovelovelove.

ya know, in many parts of the world, children don't have organized activities: afterschool classes, play dates, museum trips, etc. like my childhood for example: hours spent in our mango tree, daydreaming, looking for frogs, and other unplanned activities i can't remember now.

thank you for reminding me of that.

I'm dying at Fable's pigtails right now. DIE. ING.

Amen to that. I'm pregnant this summer so things have been much more chill around here. Best part of my day today? When Maddy and I laid on the couch this afternoon for an hour and she stacked foam shapes on my giant belly. It was lovely.

p to the s: your kids are so freaking cute!

Agreed.  "Doing nothing is the best kind of something"...I was raised by a mother who created amazing outdoor spaces...who chose idle time over summer camps...

My sons have sand, water, air, sunshine, and some token plastic hand-me-down swingsets and a castle.

It was refreshing to see this...

Enjoy it now, because when they get older and it's summertime all they can do is bitch about how "bored" they are.  And do you realize you take nine-hundred more pics of Fable than you do of Archer?  Outlet covers might be in order, too.  And to poster "Lisa," I'm sure your son will enjoy/remember spending time with you once every four months.  Gah.

@cmo- wow, aren't you a ray of f#@king sunshine?! Ha.

ignore the troll

I just love LOVE the way you talk to your children.  So friendly and kind and caring and encouraging.

BTW, those video things you used to do for Fable every month for her first 12 months?  Month 9 is my 17 month old son's (and my)  favorite.  The song combined with the pictures can stop tantrums...plus I think he's got a bit of a crush on Fable.

I was reveling in the carefreeness of it all... riiiiiiight up until the very last second when you panned over to the wide open back door without a screen on it.  And I almost had a panic attack.  I'm way too uptight, I suppose, but an unscreened door looks like a giant flashing neon sign screaming "SNAKES, BUGS AND VERMIN WELCOME HERE!"  I have issues, apparently.

Unstructured days are the best part of being a child, in my opinion.  I remember being free to play in the dirt all day, finding the perfect tree in the woods next door to climb into and read books, walking to the lake and learning to skip rocks or just sink my feet into the mucky sand...  That's the kind of childhood I want my kiddos to have now, too.  But the pressure to join activities is always there....

What is the music that is playing in the background of the drawing video? I like it. =)

Francoise Hardy :)

We too have had a sweet summer of uh, um, kids entertaining themselves while I ramble around the yard yanking weeds and drinking iced coffee.

I think it is these times - low-pressure, non-scheduled, relaxed - that the kids grow into themselves the most.

Thanks for sharing and so glad your summer has been so simply sweet.