The Third Day of Summer

Today is the Fifth Day of Summer . . .

Ah . . . Summahtime.

But on the Third Day of Summer, our friend Mistah Schleckie-Lens went out to the Field to see what he could see . . .

And oh, the things he could see.

Here's the thing about summertime in New England . . .

. . . or at least summertime in Southeastern Connecticut . . .

. . .  you think it's going to be great . . .

. . . and then it is great; it really really is . . .

The weather?  . . .

. . . well, who cares about the weather? . . .

. . .  I mean, except for everybody?

Okay, the weather has been . . . not always great . . . but still.

It's beautiful and it's perfect and it's Summer . . .

. . . it's Summer! And today? The weather is beyond great.

And I am finally starting to learn, after all these years . . .

. . . Summer is fleeting.

It is not just my imagination; it is true.

There is therefore only one thing to do at a time like this.

. . .  Go out there and get it.

The Mountain Cabin

No, I'm not going to tell you where our Mountain Cabin was . . .

. . . nothing to see here . . .

. . . nor am I going to tell you how to get there.

All you need to know is this.

After the bliss of the gigantic love wedding family love fest of the foreveryoungandmurrell love-ness -- there was love, I'm telling you -- Mistah and I headed up into the mountains -- mountains that shall remain anonymous . . .

. . .  except they looked like this . . .

. . . and blissed out for a few days.

And by bliss? . . .

Well, yeah . . .

. . . by bliss I mean bliss.

We hiked . . .

. . .  Hi Mistah!

We ate delicious food . . .

We drank Jacquie's delicious beer . . .

. . . and Jane's delicious champagne . . .

. . . and we reminisced daily about the Ashevile lovefest . . .

. . . but mostly . . .  

. . .  we blissed out.

In our Mountain Cabin.

At the corner of Paradise and Shangri-La.

asheville outtakes

I think I did this after Julie's wedding, too. Who needs perfectly polished professional level photos when you've got self indulgent weirdness happening right there in your own phone? 

Here are my faves from the hodge podge:

First gathering! Thursday evening happy hour on the deck of mom's yurt*. My own yurt is visible right next door, upstairs (sorry, Jane)

Yurt village

We traversed over river and dale to the pool

Please zoom. My neighbor on the other side of mom is naked in this photo. 

There's my girl on my deck as seen from Ellie's deck!

I don't know what is happening here, but I like it. 

It's cold now. 

What time is the safari? 

The 17 year olds, our babies. 

The Big Day! All dolled up and pouring a toast on Ellie's deck before heading to the venue

I got to visit the bridal suite!

Love my pinky twin and the world's best MOB

My faves

Love this one. Look at Erin eyeballing me

Cousins

Mom and  Julie watching Erin give her toast

Post toast sister huggies

and finally, this. blurry, silly, confusing, and perfect. 

#foreveryoungandmurrell

Before and After

Before this?

There was this:

 Oh, how lovely my lovelies are.

And after this:

After these lovelies tied the proverbial knot . . .

There were these lovelies. Okay, technically, we are Befores, because we came before the B&G, but you get what I mean. Plus, gaze upon my sisters. Aren't they lovely? Aren't there a lot of them? But I'm the only one with a spotlight upon my person . . .

But if you think that we are cool -- and, well, even if you don't . . .

. . . we have Emilie Super Hero. She really is. Both an Emilie and a Super Hero.

And look. More Befores. I love Befores.

I miss these peoples . . .

. . . and these peoples . . .

. . . and these peoples . . .

. . . and these peoples . . . Wait, no. They're strangers. I don't miss them.

But I definitely miss these Befores . . .

. . . and certainly these Afters.

I texted these lovelies a couple of days later:

"I love you N&Ns of mine and I miss you like crazy. Thanks for a great weekend. You are my favorite poopheads in all the world."

And they all texted back. All of them. They are the best batch of poopheads ever invented.

I don't know if I can express the love of the niecie-poo and nephew thing. All I can say is, I finally get why *my* aunties were always so happy to see me and acted as if I was something special when I was just a middle child of a middle child of a million zillion cousins. They love me. They always just stinkin' have. And I carry on the tradition proudly.

And these niecie-poos of mine? Ye gods. I mean, come ON! Here are three quarters of them (the bride was otherwise engaged):

After . . . 

. . . and Before.

Yeah, they're pretty easy to love.

Chrissie Pants! Or, more accurately, Chrissie-Split-Trousers. He's easy to love, too.

But, finally, ultimately, it came down to these two children. They are why all the peoples from all the lands all traveled to one tiny spot on the planet to be together for days to celebrate all the things that we are and that we hope to be and what we strive to achieve. Colleenie said to me on Sunday morning, about all the events: "Everybody said yes to everything!" 100% attendance, baby.

We blame it all on you, Colleen.

And your lovely husband. So now it's your turn. Get out there . . .

. . . and show us how it's done.