daily sizzle

I promise I won't complain about the heat when just a few posts ago I was moaning about how it was too chilly for late spring/ early summer...but... it's hot. Like 100+ all week hot.

We have some tried and true methods for staying cool in these conditions. First of all, we have air conditioning, so I can't complain. We paid a small fortune for a huge set up when we first moved on this boat when I was pregnant with Zach, and it's been good to us for 9 summers now (knock on fiberglass.) However we also have huge wrap around windows and 28 opening hatches on the boat that radiate heat.

So we go to the marina pool (oh SO grateful for that pool!)  We take advantage of the marina sprinkler system.

 And we hang a giant playsilk on the west side of the cockpit to block out the sun late in the day.

Naia did the same thing for her dolls, just in case they needed some shade.

Cold smoothies for breakfast... nice cold ice cream for a snack.

Which leads to cockpit bath time...

And we tend to shift our whole day so that we wake up later, siesta during the heat of the day, and stay up later so we can play in the cooler evening hours.

And we dream about fall.

mud kitchen

Under the shade of our favorite oak tree, the mud kitchen is open for business.

We used all of our odds and ends kitchen bits scored over the years from Goodwill and here and there. I brought over a pot of mud, Naia collects wild strawberries and flowers and herbs, and the cafe has been a local hit.  The little ones keep busy, keep cool, and wear themselves out. It's the perfect kind of fun for a long summer afternoon.

Love, love, love summer.

chicken run

Man those little chickens grow fast. Each morning they were noticeably different, larger, yet oh so adorable all the same. We were growing very attached to them. Naia needed to check on them before breakfast each morning and sing them Los Pollitos. Zach needed to have his cuddle time with them. Neighbor kids were coming over to have chicken play time in the cockpit. The chicken love was floating all around us.

 

(our friend and neighbor SuperJen getting in on the chicken love. jen... you need to get some chickens of your own girl!)

And right at the peak of the poultry bonding the mean old mama said it was time. Yes, THAT time. Time to say adios pollitos. They were too big, and too stinky, and too good at flapping and flying.

Yes, we packed up the floating chicken brooder and brought Percy Jackson, Indiana Jones, and Gatsby to our dear friend N's house. Her daughter was in the same farm school as Zach and they set up to have chickens for keeps. So we know where they are and visits can and will easily happen.  They will hav room to roam and peck and scratch their chicken hearts out. The kids were sad. They still talk about the chickens. I felt a twinge of guilt about letting them get attached and then sending them away. Zach knew all the while this was the plan, and who knows how much Naia really understands about the big picture.

But the key thing we want our kids to have are experiences. The living on a boat thing is not their choice. It's a beautiful life, but Doug and I always wanted to make sure it wasn't a limiting one. We wanted to make sure that they didn't only see the world in a watery, tropical, salty dog view. I don't want the canvas of their childhood to be painted only with a boat brush. We want to let them experience as much as possible alongside the amazing opportunities of boat life, so they really know about farms and mountains and cities and museums and theatre and art and forests and camping and sports and music and community. So I hope that one day instead of looking back and saying, "My mom gave away our pet chickens!" Maybe instead they will say, "My mom let us raise chickens on our boat, that was really a neat experience."

summer nights

These long, lingering days of summer feel so luxurious after a long winter here. Being able to really take advantage of the whole day, making room for work and play and a little more play and just one more romp in the moonlight mama please?

Naia announces sunset each night, "The sky is turning pink and red and owange!! So beautiful!" And she is starting to figure out the cycle of the sun reminding me that the sun is going bye bye to grandma and grandpa's house in Hawaii but it will come back in the morning.

Staying at the marina pool until closing time, evening cart rides around the marina, chasing and catching fireflies, and of course very late bedtimes too. It's all part of the blissful abundance of summer.

(One of our marina neighborhood kids with some fireflies.) 

9 times around the sun

Today was such a sweet, slow, low key day to celebrate this boy.

( Zach's special birthday orchid. When we brought him home to the boat as a newborn baby we had an orchid waiting for him. It's been his birthday flower ever since. 

9 times around the sun and each trip filled with love and learning and laughter and wonder. It was unseasonably cool (a trend around these parts this year) and rainy, so we spent the morning just rolling around and loving on the chickens. I have to say, we're all becoming quite attached to them. What wonderful companions. Sending them to their new home later this week will be difficult to say the least.

Then a handful of his friends arrived to have some pizza and a crazy homemade "cake" that Zach and I invented. Basically we made a big pan of gluten free brownies. Then we packed chocolate peanutbutter cup ice cream on top and scooped it out in bowls. We were all shocked at how sinfully yummy it was. The saltiness of the peanut butter in the ice cream with the chocolate was just right. Who knew?

Last year was a huge hit with the outdoor movie night and the first viewing of Star Wars. We wanted to do the same this year with Raiders of the Lost Ark, but the rain forced us in. So we blacked out the salon windows as best we could with rain soaked towels. Then we created a "big screen" (ya know, for a boat) and projected the film up and piled the kids on the floor with popcorn and it was all good.

Zach was showered with so much love and kindness, it was really wonderful for me to see him realize that people other than mom and dad care for him so much. Happy Birthday to my sweet boy! We love you to the moon and back!