after a day off of basking in the hot summer north carolina sun, the kids were game for driving to the point of oak island and taking a little sunset walk. we took lots of purple-y pics. ruby loved the more calm waters and the weird sand embankment. we met a crusty crab. and looked […]
summer beach trip. the aquarium, etc.

while i would be happy just chilling at the beach with a book for the entirety of our vacation, it turns out that kids seem to need more activities. which likely explains all the minigolf and aquariums and such. my boss/friend teresa’s fam has a home at oak island and gave me a hot tip […]
summer beach trip. first days.

i’m not gonna lie. after our michigan trip, i wasn’t super excited to load us all back up in the car for another family vacation. but this one was a much shorter commute and would hopefully be a bit more laid back. you know. beaches and all. so we loaded up the posse, including ruby […]
national park quilt #2: everglades for derek

i feel like i’ve told this tale before, but i’ll recap. when we came off the road a few years back, derek purchased me an obscene amount of national park prints and panels. panels aren’t my favorite to sew with, but i’m making a (minimal) effort. i made this arches themed quilt for ike a […]
pink florals…

back to cakery. as soon as we returned from our summer trip, i had an order for a floral cake for the birthday and cancer remission celebration for a family member of anna’s best pal. we opted for chocolate cake with pink florals to represent said cancer and it’s demolishment. pretty happy with this one. […]
down the final stretch…

after madison, we really had nothing to do but make our way across the country to home. of course, we found a few little stops along the way, but it was mostly a ton of driving. by derek. our route took us to an old familiar city that i really had never expected to see […]
madison, wisconsin.

a few years back, on our epic last hurrah summer road trip, we camped so so close to madison, wisconsin. but, the timing of our travels and plans and reservations didn’t leave us any time to actually explore the city. this time, though, we made it happen. but first. on our way into town. a […]
a few things that happened in june ’24 before we left for a 3 week trip to michigan.

we only had a week of june before we departed for our michigan summer road trip. but we crammed in some things. firstly. school ended. i already blogged about anna’s graduation. ike finished up his junior year a bit more quietly. and hazel wrapped up a great fourth grade year, which is the year they […]
apostle islands.

our final big fat epic amazing adventure of our summer 2024 mostly michigan road trip was a boat tour of the apostle islands, which technically belong to wisconsin. we woke up extra early to get a spot at the front of the line, so we could have a good seat on the tour. well. we […]
less exciting random U.P. adventures…

this is the post where i group together some of the less epic things we did while at the keweenaw peninsula. and our travel day. we were trying hard to fill the days but also not make everyone crazy. its a delicate balance for sure. on our second day in the area, i was able […]