A Stroll Through Time.......

Today we dropped our boy off at the airport for

his month long vacation with family friends

( I MISS HIM ALREADY!!!). 

So, we took advantage of San Diego for the afternoon and

took Freckles to see Old Town San Diego's...

Heritage Park Victorian Village.

She and I have a fondness for old Victorian homes ... 

well, we love everything old....

Unfortunately we came on a day they were closed for tours... 

Boo Hoo.

We'll come back another time. It was still quite lovely to see 

the sweet character of these old antique homes.

One favorite part of the village was the darling 

garden circle in the middle of the court.

The tree in the middle was just delightful..

.and of course my little girl looked very sweet there too!

After our afternoon stroll... 

we went to a favorite book store of ours nearby.

They carry a lot of out of print, rare, vintage and antique books

as well as children books. We love the Children Books!!! 

Freckles found something sweet!

But, Mama said...No! 

The price is too high!

Sorry Freckles!!!

This was one of my favorite books today.... 

Yet again it was too much. $40.00 for the book!

Mr. Darling loves to browse the shelves of literary goodness! 

I will leave him to it... 

and go back downstairs to the Children Books!

I took a couple pics. of some fun colorful books.

I wish I could have bought Toy Land And Away... 

But it was a $60.00 book! Youch!!!!

We had a great afternoon .... 

I hope you did too! 

See ya later!!!

Apricots....

My family is joining in on 
Monday's Outdoor Challenge
hosted by 5 Orange Potatoes.

The time has finally come...
Our apricot tree is now producing a bunch of little delights...
We picked a bunch today just to can them for future snacks.

Well, that was fun!

We will be canning some more as they ripen up....
Oh !!!
And it will also become some jam in the very near future.
Can't wait!
It's a beautiful Summer day!!
Enjoy it!!!

A Hanging Out Sort Of Summer Day....

The perfect Summer day is sipping on an ice cold chai tea,

hanging out with the family, having fun and keeping cool.

Not only are we hanging out,

my aprons are too!

We are also reading books.

I have been collected these ( and many more ) old vintage children books for my kids and someday 

Lord willing I can bless my grandchildren with them. 

When that time comes...

This week Freckles starts swimming lessons

and Maestro is flying out to Washington for a whole month of Summer fun... again!

I told myself last year I wouldn't let go that long... But I gave in.

He will have a blast though... One fun thing he will be doing is camping at Mt. Rainier.

It will be lonely without him here, I am gonna miss my baby boy.... 

But still have lot's of fun Summer plans for Freckles......

I am also taking up my Hubby's suggestion and keeping a journal of some thoughts this Summer. Just things that pass through my head... So hopefully I can keep it up, as well as my newest lifestyle change... I am bound and determined to get my health and body back into shape after years of depression and weight gain. By God's grace I have been able to conquer the depression I had for so long and without the use of mind altering meds.. I am ready to get my soul, my mind and booty in gear. I am usually not one to share these sorts of things... but, hopefully with some encouragement I will be able to do this.

Hope your having a wonderful hanging out sort of Summer!

Hittin' The Trails.....

To end our vacation with my sister and her family we

went to a nature park for a short long hike with the family and dogs.

Missy was quite excited to get out with us after being cooped up camping. 

The pups all got along so well. If you know my dog, she usually doesn't like other dogs.

 I am so proud of her for being a nice girl and look they all walked together!

We set out on the trails after checking in with the visitors center.

Freckles was gung ho to get out there and walk.

It was a pretty sight. Lot's of trees, greenery and wild flowers,

even dry grasses, shrubbery, cactus and fox-tails were quite the sight..

We took a couple short breaks under huge trees to 

catch our breath and replenish ourselves. And wouldn't ya know... 

The boy's were up in the trees... aww,

just like when they were younger tikes... 

Boys and trees... Go figure! Ha Ha!

Freckles even pretended that we were living in the

prairie days and we had to go out in search of  food and shelter. 

Except, I don't think they had Ipods back then.....

The last hill took a while to climb up for us girls..... 

By then it felt like a thousand degrees...

 We were hot and getting tired... 

Yet we made it, with hearts pounding

out of our chests and red in the face.

Well, we didn't see much wildlife... 

just the occasional bird flying above,

some bugs and lots of rocks and dirt,

We made it!

It really was a great hike and a nice visit with my family.... 

We surely made some great memories this week!

Hope you all are having an awesome Summer day!