Home

Yes, where I live is home and I love going to the library and the grocery store and everywhere else and running into people from different parts of my life here, but I also call where I grew up home. 

I love swimming at the old community pool.

I love running by the little lake near home.
Yes, it was very humid.

It was a treat to be chaperoned to a new-to-me all-purpose
trail by my friend, neighbor, and former math teacher.

I really wasn't going to go to the library book
sale and when I did go I was just going
to look, not actually buy anything.

I sorted my mom's playing card collection.

We escaped the heat by taking an air-conditioned tour of places in my parents' life (where they were married, their first apartment) and drove by my grandmother's house. Not shown - the missing golf course behind the house!

If I could twitch my nose and show up at home for a long weekend every month or two I would definitely do it!

Backstory

 

All the toys I need for work have backstories.

The Duplo in the background are probably from a yard sale but they have an important role and can't go.

The cylindrical toy is from the HABA outlet store in Skaneateles, about an hour from Ithaca, NY. Even though I am not so fond of driving, the destination made it worth it. I love the HABA toys and have found so many different ways to play with this one - a keeper!

Another HABA treasure. It looks so simple but there are so many different uses. The favorite one these days is to put the little people in upside down and giggle about it. 

Most shape sorters are too busy for my tastes, but the real reason I like this is because it is the same as the one that was in my house (maybe I used it? maybe my little sister used it?). I have put away some of the more complex shapes for now.

My oldest child received this from the parent of children I used to babysit. It is one of the few stuffed toys I have kept to be played with. I have other stuffed toys that sit by my bed.

I bought these stacking cups at the school yard sale about
twenty years ago. I love the way that because of the
different grooves they can stack by size and by color. 

This does not even touch on children's books. Maybe when we have an empty nest I will set up a mini children's library in one room. Or not so mini. I have no new year's resolution about getting rid of stuff.

Not the Salt Mines

 Did I mention that I am working again? Four days a week of this.

Looking for turtles

Riding around with the trailer
(seventh kid to use it)

Our mobile toy chest

Checking out the neighborhood hens

Always something to see at the neighborhood construction site

Not shown - lizards, low walls to walk on, trash/recycling/green waste trucks, puzzles, books, and records. I am so lucky!

Some things don't change

I have so much to be grateful for, including being able to walk over to the bookshelf and take down my childhood photo album.

I used to take lots of pictures of the sky. At least this picture had clouds. I don't think my parents were thrilled to develop my film and find nice blue rectangles!

I thought of my old album as I was taking this picture a couple days ago.  If I thought I could capture the sky I would still take nice blue rectangular pictures!