Chilly & Chatty

How many July afternoons find you with your hands curled around a steaming mug of coffee, snuggling up in your slippers and sweater?

Today the thermometer outside my window reads 59 degrees!  A funny little cold and rainy spell we've been having, but I can't say it's not welcome.  It's nice to have a break from sweating for a few days-- and if you ask anyone who knows me, they will tell you that in general I'm a huge fan of overcast days and feeling cozy.  Since I ran 11 miles this morning (beautiful weather for running too!) my motivation to be productive during J's nap is pretty low today.  So here I am, getting chatty with it :)

L helped me pick our first real garden harvest today.

Pickles here we come!

Last night the girls wanted dessert, but we didn't have anything in the house.  They asked if there was anything we could make, but I had to give the baby a bath so I told them I couldn't help.  We did figure out that we could make a blueberry crumble with the ingredients we had in the house, so I wrote down the recipe for them... and they made the whole thing themselves.

Totally without help.  And it was delicious.

I'm looking forward to the day when they will start making me dinner.  ;-}

This past weekend we decided on the spur of the moment to take a trip out to Tanglewood for their annual family concert.  What a beautiful place!

The concert itself was played by a brass quintet of BSO players, and they included lots of favorites of the girls, like the score from Harry Potter, Sousa marches, West Side Story, and "Everything is Awesome" from the Lego Movie.  Being brass players, they had lots of corny jokes to tell, and were a bit long-winded (pun intended) when they got a hold of the microphone for my taste, but the girls didn't seem to mind.  IMHO, there was a bit of a faux-pas at the very end when they played "Let it Go" from Frozen and said that Idina Menzel was going to come out and sing it, but then it actually ended up being just one of the quintet members dressed up as her.  They got some laughs and I know they were just trying to be funny.  But I mean, you just don't promise that kind of thing with little girls around, and then bait and switch.  Not cool.  Okay ranting terminated.

The big girls sat in the balcony of Ozawa Hall with Dad

while I chased Miss J around out on the lawn.

(strawberry face)

She did listen and enjoy (and danced to) a good portion of the concert-- but it was so nice that she had the freedom to move around outside while doing so, and wasn't confined to a chair.  As you know, she is not a gal who will tolerate much stillness.  She's got the beat, know what I mean?

Being at Tanglewood brought back so many memories for me and M of singing with the BSO.  It's sort of where we fell in love!!  And who wouldn't, in such a gorgeous setting, surrounded by amazing music??

Afterwards we drove up Mt Greylock, the place where M originally proposed!  It was fun to show it to the girls.

We didn't stay long, given the fact that it was 20 degrees cooler on top of the mountain and windy, and J was beyond done at that point having missed her nap.  So we got in the car and took the scenic route home.

I am just loving having M home from work this summer and the freedom to pop out on these spontaneous summer adventures!  We have had lots of them so far and it has been an amazing staycation.

Lastly, some pics that I have found on my phone lately (as in, I did not take these)...

Totes adorbs.

Okay, I must go make a grocery list!

Hoping you are all enjoying some cozy afternoons and summer adventures...