a long, rambling post

so, i have lots of pictures to post this time. surprisingly, because last week, my camera fell out of the car onto pavement and the lens popped off. and then it wouldn't stay on. i took it into the camera shop and they told me it wasn't worth fixing it, and that i should purchase a new and better lens. nice way of saying my current lens was kind of crappy. and i'll admit, it's not the best, it came with the camera body, but it was getting us some great shots and we were capturing her life. but alas, i just had to research a new lens and finally ordered it on friday. should be here this week and i'm so excited! better pictures (hopefully) to come. although i have to keep telling myself that it's not the camera and lens that make the photographer, it's the photographer behind the camera and lens that make the photographer.

first off, we were blessed with some sunshine for the first time in days! i took advantage of it to get some sun flare shots throughout the weekend.



and we made a pie for a bbq with friends saturday night. oh, delicious little girl, she has to try everything she helps me whip up.

we lapped up some fruity popsicles on our front porch after a yummy lunch while our eyes were shaded with some fabulous specks. harper loves to accessorize, and glasses have become a new favorite thing.

sunday brought a busy morning. we started out with a family run at the park. well, michael ran, as he is training for his 10k in a few weeks, and harper and i walked and played on the play structures. actually, after only a few minutes, harper wanted to get out and run to find daddy. and that girl ran! for almost 1/2 a mile with only a few stops. she's a dancer, a runner and a climber. loving her energy.

we ended our run to find daddy waiting patiently for us on the other parking structure, needing some rest after his 60 minute trek!

harper watched daddy climb up the curved ladder and then wanted to try it herself. and she pretty much only needed a little guidance and some daddy hands on close watch in case she slipped. otherwise, it was all her little strength and determination that got her to the top.

here's daddy just monkeying around.

on our way home, we stopped at nana and papa's for a quick visit. one of harper's favorite things to do is to look out the window at the pond behind their condo and search for duckies. she's thrilled when she seems them swimming around.

before naps, we decided to take advantage of the sunny weather and plant our vegetable seeds in our garden. michael finished the building of the structure and filling it with compost and soil last week, and we just had to wait for the rain to stop and the dirt to settle a bit before we planted. harper made sure she had her "gubs" and shovel, but instead got her hands directly in the dirt and helped me sow. did i know what i was doing? nope. do i have a green thumb? don't really think so. but that's the fun of it, trying something new and out of my comfort zone to show her that she can do anything she wants. and if mid-summer we end up with still only a pile of dirt and a weekly visit to the farmers market for our produce rather than being able to walk in our backyard, then we research more, plan better and try again next year.

after long naps, we lounged for a bit. harper loves to lounge on daddy and they giggle and chat and read books and talk about their days. it's sweet to witness.

at the end of the day, as the bathtub was filling up and i was vacuuming up the grass and crumbs from our perfect-for-us weekend, harper came running into the kitchen and wanted to help me. so, i brought up an old favorite. our tiny upright was the first vacuum that michael and i had in our apartment, and i held onto it with the intent that someday, our children would {hopefully} take to imitating mommy and daddy doing chores and it would be the perfect size. and it was. she had the biggest smile on her face, and was so proud of the work she was doing to help. i'm going to hold onto this picture and show it to her in 10 years and remind her how much she begged to help. i'm certain there are child labor laws against this, right?

glad you made it to the end of this long post. thanks for sticking to it. see ya next time.