second and edgemont

creating space for beauty & simplicity


when the girls caught wind that chris and i had written a summer manifesto they wanted in too.

last night as the four of us were lying in bed ready to drift off we began to create a family summer manifesto.
since i am usually the first one asleep this is what i can remember. i’m sure there was more.
we have our work cut out for us.

:: ride a roller coaster (papa)
:: go on a picnic (norah)
:: swim in a creek, a pond, a lake, a river and the ocean (papa)
:: make homemade ice cream (mama)
:: make pies and crisps with each summer fruit (hannah)
:: master a homemade barbeque sauce recipe (papa)
:: canoe and camp in the pine barrens (mama)
:: set off fire works (papa)
:: find a nearby swimming hole (mama)
:: go crabbing (hannah)
:: invite friends over more often (papa)
:: make batik print tee shirts (mama)
:: make friendship bracelets (hannah)
:: have a summer restaurant on our back porch (hannah)
:: spend a weekend in cape may (mama)
:: eat tomato sandwiches (hannah)
:: ride bikes on the boardwalk (norah)
:: pick wineberries (mama)
:: catch fire flies (norah)
:: be together (mama, papa, hannah, norah)

https://secondandedgemont.com/2012/06/12/2294/

when hannah was little the ice cream truck came around the corner playing it’s tune.

she looked at us and asked what it was and we told her it was the music truck. “it comes around the neighborhood to play music for us all” (hey we weren’t totally lying, right?)

well she thought it was the greatest thing and every time it came around she would shout “the music truck, the music truck!”

the next summer the music truck reappeared and we were all sitting out back when our neighbor shouted “the ice cream truck!”

hannah turned right around, looked us straight in the eye and asked “they have ice cream??!!!!”

BUSTED!!!

 

https://secondandedgemont.com/2012/06/04/2203/


my front porch has always been a room of transition.
i can never seem to figure out what to do with the space.
it doesn’t get used as much as i would like.
we all seem to navigate onto the back porch instead.
we have plans of one day making it into a bigger living room and front entrance.
in the mean time the girls and i came up with a summer plan for our front porch.
a summer art studio.

https://secondandedgemont.com/2012/06/02/2181/


this girl of mine is growing up.
one of her girl scout projects was to make the family dinner last week.
she made a grocery list, collected her own money and off she went to the market alone.
yes i let her walk alone!
it’s only two blocks away and it felt so good to trust that it was all fine.
she was beaming as she walked out the door and beaming even more when she arrived home.
she couldn’t stop telling me how fun it was.
then she prepared and served us a ginger udon soup (her own recipe).

it’s fun watching her grow up and it seems as if she is doing it at just the right pace.

https://secondandedgemont.com/2012/05/26/2136/



back in the fall when we first created hannah’s schedule of ballet, choir, archery and sewing class i thought that all of the driving back and forth and waiting would soon become mundane and frankly get old for me.
but this week i realized how wonderful it has proved to be for us all.
it has been fun exploring new towns.
we have found many new markets, libraries, cafes and thrift stores.
on the days we drive into the city we have enjoyed the time for listening to new music and books on tape. we are listening to this one right now.
i enjoy my norah time while we wait reading, drawing, playing a card game or two.
and when norah decides to hang back with a friend or papa, i catch up on knitting, making meal plans for the week while perusing new cookbooks or just simply closing my eyes for a rest while i listen and hum along to the songs that i now know by heart.
and above all i love how much hannah has grown to love each and every one of her new endeavors.
i asked her this week which one she liked best and she responded “i love them all the same”.
i couldn’t agree more.

https://secondandedgemont.com/2012/03/11/1904/








turning ten is a big deal.
hannah wanted a sock hop to celebrate double digits.
we all had a blast preparing and decorating and transforming our home into a dance hall and diner.
there were handcut french fries (thanks to a loaned out fryer), black and white milkshakes (thanks to a borrowed shake maker), mini hamburgers, root beer floats, and ice cream sundaes.
and there was lots of dancing, (the hand jive, mashed potato, the twist) and hula hoop contests to work off all of the eating.
a good time had by all.
happy birthday sweet hannah. xo

https://secondandedgemont.com/2012/02/26/1825/

the neighborhood felt quiet on the first day back to school but we managed to fill up our day with fun and be back in time to hear all about everyone’s day. the girls are looking forward to their first day of program at Open Connections which start on the 20th.

https://secondandedgemont.com/2010/09/08/543/

Tags

2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 adventure april august autumn backyard beach birthday celebration christmas december february friends garden hannah holiday holidays home january july june kitchen lake lake shehawken mama march may norah november october old site papa september spring summer tend tradition traditions vacation winter

Archive