My Happy Place

As the fun days of summer come to an end I thought I'd share a few images of our recent adventures.

In addition to Because I'm Me and Jude Harbor I now run a full time home daycare, which is great but limits vacation time quite a bit so instead of weeks away we did short weekend excursions, mostly with our camper - which we used five times this summer!

Most of our trips were to my happy place, the Florida Keys. My oldest son, Ian, is working in the Keys at Sea Base, a Boy Scout high adventure camp. So, you know, we had to visit him, right? Three times (plus a visit in April). We didn't make it to Key West this summer but we explored Long Key State Park quite a bit and spent most of our time in the water swimming, lounging, and boating on Ian's boat. Pure heaven.

Our biggest moment of excitement there was at about 10:00 pm on a Friday night at Long Key. One of the rangers drove past us, saying he had a minor emergency, as we were getting the camper into our site. Ever the curious home schooling family we had to see what was going on. About a hundred sea turtles had hatched but were heading toward the restroom lights instead of into the ocean. We watched the rangers and another family take the turtles back to the water and helped find a few of the cuties ourselves. It was an amazing experience and really brought home the fact that lights need to be off for the sea turtles. I couldn't believe how strong the attraction to the lights was - one camper held a flashlight pointing down and a swarm of turtles rushed to the light, he was then able to create a little trail of light to the water's edge.

If you're in the Keys and looking for a quick, free, pretty interesting, thing to do walk the old Seven Mile Bridge. It's now a fishing bridge, with one side closed for renovation, but in the shallow water are sharks, sting rays, dolphins, sea stars, fish, birds, and who knows what else - the wildlife seems to change with the days and tides.

It takes us about 4.5 hours to get to one of the state campgrounds from our home. We travel through the Everglades on US Route 41, past the smallest post office in the United States, indian villages, and a memorial for the victims of ValuJet flight 592. It's a relaxing drive with no interstate to worry about so even though it's a long drive it doesn't feel like it at all.

Plans are already being made for our next trip.

Super Small Snails

What a good, happy feeling this tie evokes.

Created with Heather Ross' blue and orange snail print (from her Far Far Away line) this tie is filled to the brim with whimsy and character. Proof positive that bow ties are fun.

Available in very limited quantity for men, boys, and cats.

Dot to Dot

Check out this cutie patootie in our teal blue and red bow tie!

Available in the shop for both kiddos and men.

So ... we've been very remiss in updating this site/blog. It hasn't gone unnoticed and the shop itself is still going strong, as is Jude Harbor, but time has gotten away from us!

A brief update on my kids, who've been talked about and photographed on this site for 10 years now (wow!):

Cassie is making a new tie model for me. :)  He's due to arrive in August of this year and I can't wait to be a grandma. After graduating college she accepted a position with a local bank and has proven herself to be a wonderful adult.

Ian just finished his first year of college with an amazing trip to Peru where he and his fellow Honors students did service work in a small rural town. He is currently in the Florida Keys where his summer job has taken him. We'll be visiting him next weekend with the camper. At school he's on the wakeboard team, the climbing team, and holds a key position in his school's rocketry club.

Mia graduated high school at the beginning of this month. After the fall semester she'll have completed her AA degree. She's considering culinary school after that, in hopes of becoming a pastry chef (yes, please!). She has been advancing her water skiing skills and has gotten really good at skiing with the rope attached to her foot instead of being held in her hands.

Adam just completed his first year of public school and next fall will be taking all college classes at the same community college Ian and Mia did their dual enrollment at. He's working on developing his Eagle project for Boy Scouts and learning to drive. He is also water skiing.

Kaden will begin high school in the fall - his first time in public school, and he's excited. He has successfully skied around the ski boat and is working on becoming a wakeboarder.

As of fall River will be the only home schooled child in the family, and I think this will be my 17th year home schooling. He discovered Harry Potter this year and is hooked, hooked, hooked. As soon as he began reading the 7th book he starting worrying about what he'd read when he finished it. Luckily he's got lots of older siblings to give him ideas of what to dive into next. He stays busy with water skiing, working to ski on one ski, and Cub Scouts.

Here is the first picture that appeared on this blog, about 10 years ago. Times have changed!

xoxo

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For Christmas delivery:
US Orders for Christmas Delivery, First Class Mail - order by 12/16
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(the delivery dates are the same for Because I'm Me)

Hippo Suave

 Looking suave in his mint green bow tie, Hippo knows he's the life of every party and the center of everyone's attention.