Downtown Portsmouth - Midsummer

Endless things to do in downtown Portsmouth, NH. Market Square never fails to interest me. So many shops, so many "green" influences. It's a great mix of modern thinking and traditional comforts. The brick buildings and the old church tower with a clock. The fountain was on for summer. Sun dresses were walking down the sidewalk with ice coffees in hand.

It was so exciting to see the girls look new, older and improved in this familiar setting. I realize we haven't been here for months. They have grown so much during the summer.

Some sort of giant wood sculpture.  Couldn't get a good picture because my wide angle lens has lens lock. Curse you - lens lock!

Yes, we went to Starbucks.

And they got me to go to Flatbread Pizza.

I love it there. Perfect example of what fun things you can find behind the traditional brick facades of the old buildings, if only you walk in the big front doors.

 Made for a very long day but it was fun to do something different in the mid-summer.  Now we look on towards August.

Chickens Like Watermelon

This is what you do in the country, I guess: You get your kicks finding out what chickens will eat.

They like watermelon!

They devoured it. When we came home in the afternoon, they had eaten all the fruit remains, and the white rind and the green rind, everything except the very outermost skin of the melon.

Coming on the end of July

We're wrapping up a nice weekend, and realizing we face the final week of July.  We went down to Massachusetts to celebrate two of several summer birthdays in the family. Got to swim in Grammy Lucy and Grampy Tom's pool at their new condo.  The girls very much enjoyed showing off their improved swimming abilities.

Second cake of the week was better than the first. This one was made entirely of frozen yogurt.

You can tell by the look on Julia's face that we liked the cake!

Just home today, which is always a nice way to spend a summer Sunday. The gardens are bursting. Tom made homemade jam. I sewed and did laundry. The girls found creative activities like making mud shakes in the backyard. 

Just another afternoon in the quiet woods.

Hazy Hot Summer

These are the weeks where the sun rays are visible as they dive through the tree tops and pour onto the gardens. Hazy misty air you can see and feel in your throat makes it feel like being under the ocean.

Our sunflowers are in bloom!  This is it: this is summer.  Only a few flowers still hold out to bloom. We are on the down side now. Summer has peaked and will begin to coast towards fall.

Every Wednesday, an ice cream truck comes to summer camp.

I felt exactly the same exuberance as when I was 8 years old.

Ellie chose well: a chocolate chip cookie ice cream sandwich.  Julia went with the Scooby Doo ice bar, which turned out to be less than tasty. Looks like chocolate but in actuality, is a fruity ice substance.

What a nice big sister to share bites.

Slow Down Sunday

The town of Wolfeboro enjoys lots of lake access. On Sundays, you can usually catch sight of the water skiing club practicing on "back bay," the bit of the lake that is calmer and removed on the back side of town. We happened to walk by today... on our way to the town tennis courts.

The girls are interested in tennis. But they wish they could be instantly adept.

We were first on the old courts this morning; but soon enough they were full up with players. It's good to see people playing tennis.  I imagine there might even be some sort of organized group.  If there is, wouldn't it be great if they had a sign up so other people could know about it too.

My favorite thing about the town courts is the big wooden backboard where I can play against myself.

The rest of today was too hot to do anything very productive. It was a rare day of true laziness and rest for me.  Probably a very good idea.

Boston Lobsters Family Day

Today we drove down to Massachusetts to see the Boston Lobsters play World Team Tennis at Ferncroft Country Club.  I bought tickets back in the spring but later heard the call for volunteers.  Turns out that volunteering was a good idea because we had a great time seeing some of the behind-the-scenes details of the event.

There were some pro players there including Coco Vandeweghe.

It was fun to bring Ellie and see her reaction to the situations of the day. She was on her best behavior, excited to spend the day one on one with mom in this interesting arena. The idea was for her to hit tennis balls at the free kids tennis lessons; but she decided she was having more fun doing volunteer work with me.  I was expecting to throw balls for kids but ended up as a check in greeter helping people register and go in the right direction for their age group. 

Couldn't help notice the physical fitness of the pro players such as Jan-Michael Gambil. It was over 90 degrees with high humidity but all the players took turns of about 45 minutes "warming up" before the match.  Off and on they were out in the sun for hours and hours, playing high level tennis.  

The coach of the Lobsters this year is Bud Shultz. He greeted all the kids and introduced the players.  I asked him what he coaches since he only gets to be with these players a short time out of the year and they know so much about tennis already.  He said there is a ton of stuff to coach them on, actually.  I wish I could see him work all the time.

I got to pose with Larry the Lobster.

Very hot day but a lot of fun to spend it with tennis and my eldest daughter.

Summer's Favorite Day is Friday

Another week of summer celebrated with another Friday!  We have been enjoying the routine of arriving early at the health club and shooting baskets inside the gym before heading outside for the morning's camp activities.  I don't know why but I always love the sight of the pool early in the morning, so quiet and "ready" looking.

Friday means free lunch at camp!  This Friday was pizza day. It's so cool to see them come in with dozens of pizza boxes. The kids line up for their slices. Kids first. Hungry camp counselors and tennis instructors wait in the shadows for the second round.  Cheesy, greasy, fatty pizza never tasted so perfect as after a nice warm summer morning on the court.

Keep those boxes coming!

It's even more fun seeing my very own child enjoying the same thrill of lunch as the rest of us.

Julia decided to do a gymnastics pose for her picture today. Her little kids camp got to jump on the giant bouncy house today, and get a balloon.

Home again in the later afternoon means checking on Ubi. She is doing very well recovering from her eye surgery. I am doing well also, to get over the shock and disappointment of having my dog suffer this sort of injury and consequence. Happily, she is feeling great now and we are all looking forward to the stitches coming out next week. She and I pass the hours inside the sewing room there, while the birds come and go for the buffet.

With all the flowers to choose from, you'd never guess that my favorite is a marigold. I like the scent, sturdiness, and simplicity of this flower. And of course the color. If only they were perennials, I'd have hundreds of them.

This brings us to the halfway point of summer camp.  Five more weeks to go.  Savor the summer I remind myself.  Don't rush to fall.  Savor the summer.