Thanks for catching up with me!

What I’ve Been Up To:

At the star of July we were still on our Martha’s Vineyard vacation. It took a few days to settle in, but we absolutely loved our time away!

Some amazing Martha’s Vineyard highlights that we recommend:

Back Door Donuts

We ate a truly embarrassing amount of donuts and pastries from here. I rarely even make desserts at home, so that’s how you know this place is amazing. It had even me waking up and craving pure, unadulterated sugar first thing in the morning.

There are donuts you won’t find anywhere else, like the Jaws Donut (featured above!). Their blueberry and cheese danishes are also my new weakness.

Their lattes are also scrumptious. I normally don’t like normal coffee–I’m a strictly cold brew girl. But their lattes, including white mocha and hazelnut, are not to be missed.

The Gingerbread Cottages

I absolutely loved these historic little homes. I now want to add as many carpenter gothic details to my home as possible.

We walked around and gazed longingly at the cottages a few times this vacation. The cottages are about a two minute walk from Back Door Donuts, so these are a natural pairing.

Joseph A. Sylvia State Beach

We didn’t have access to any of the private town beaches on the island, so we only visited ones with extended free parking. Out of those options, Joseph A. Sylvia is the clear winner.

This is a two mile lone beach, and I believe there are around 500 parking spots. Even on the 4th of July weekend, parking was easy to find on this beach. You can also park all day long, which is rare on the island.

On every day besides the 4th, we had maybe 1-2 other couples or families on the same stretch of beach as us. And on the 4th, there was still plenty of space.

This beach is also much more shallow than most beaches I’ve been to throughout New England. It’s easy to reach the water, and it feels like you have the ocean to yourself.

Aquinnah Cliffs

This spot is so beautiful!

We brought our car to the island, so we were able to drive on our own over to the cliffs. Our rental home was in Oak Bluffs, and it only took half an hour to make the drive. Seeing the quieter side of the island lets you glimpse a whole other side of Martha’s Vineyard.

We loved looking through the Aquinnah Native Americans’ shops as well.

Martha’s Vineyard Museum

They have an awesome kids section in the museum. We spent over an hour in just the play room!

Outside of the kid oriented spaces, the kids also loved seeing all of the Jaws material at the museum. They’ve never seen the movie, but they still found this fascinating!

The museum is a great rainy day spot, but even if it doesn’t rain, it’s a must see stop.

Edgartown Lighthouse

The kids loved the walk out to the lighthouse. It’s truly an amazing spot on the island! And walking by all of the beautiful homes to get to the lighthouse is also a delight.

When we went to the lighthouse, some of the beach was sectioned off for the piping plovers; they were in the middle of nesting season. We actually found this to be a bonus–seeing so many of these little fluff balls congregated by the lighthouse and hearing their little peeps led to a lot of giggles and smiles!

We went to the beach every day, ate ice cream every day, and enjoyed a much slower pace for the week.

Pirate Adventures Martha’s Vineyard

This happened over a month ago, and my kids are still reenacting it every day.

This is an unhinged-in-the-best-way experience. Our kids fully decked out in pirate gear, boarded a pirate ship, and got to attack a “bad pirate” with water guns and foam swords after sailing around a bit. Bless the college student that signed up to be attacked by all of these children.

They also take the kids to a place where they have treasure that they get to haul up from the sea floor. My kids, who do tend to lose things, have meticulously kept track of this treasure, as this is clearly now a core memory for them. You’d think they found actual gold instead of plastic.

This was a bit of an investment, but I can tell you that it was worth every penny. They were engaged for every second of the trip, and like I already said, this will be a core childhood memory for them.

I also appreciated that the MV Pirates team doesn’t expect you to help lead the activities. I’ve done some kid things before where the parent is expected to basically run the show, which isn’t all that fun when you’ve invested a lot and you’re expecting a team of people to do their part. You bring your kids, and after that, the team does the rest. You can sit in the shade on the boat while your littles develop a new part of their personality being pirates. You’re free to get up, sit with them, take pictures, whatever. But you can also relax if you want to.

I also highly recommend taking a look at MV Vacation’s parking guide if you bring your car over like we did. All of the towns on the island have different parking rules, and in each town, parking is strictly enforced. We saw parking officers out and about every single day, regardless of the time of day. Having all of the rules clearly explained in one guide made parking a much smoother experience.

On our very last beach trip, right before heading back to the ferry, we actually lost my wedding rings. I took them off and put them in our sun tent, trying to make sure they didn’t end up in the ocean.

I forgot to put them back on, and we shook the sand out of the tent. In the next few minutes, I remembered my rings, but the damage was already done.

We looked and looked, but we couldn’t find them. It wasn’t the way we wanted to end our vacation, but when you have a car reservation for the ferry, especially on a holiday weekend, it’s not easy to change plans.

We dropped a pin where we had set up camp on the beach, and I started googling different options for people that could find rings. I’d heard of people that are part of online directories, and then I came across a news article about a local Martha’s Vineyard man named Mikey Waters. So I did a little more googling, specifically on Mikey, and found his ring finder Facebook page.

I called him, left a message, and thought I wouldn’t see my wedding rings again.

I cried a lot and grieved the sentimental part, which is why I think God had me lose my rings in the first place. Dillon and I have talked so much with our coach this part year about grieving, and I struggle to let myself feel those deeper, heavier emotions and honestly feel my disappointments. I found myself grieving a whole bunch!

And, Mikey found them!!

Dillon went back to Martha’s Vineyard two weeks later to pick them up for me, and even though it was stressful, I’m grateful for the entire experience.

This month I also volunteered at my church’s VBS and eased back into work. So far, I’ve photographed an engagement session, two maternity sessions, a family session, and a rainy wedding day. I’m going to squeeze in one more wedding on the day this goes live, so it’s been a busy month overall, even with vacation time worked in!

What I’ve Been Reading

I’m currently making my way through Rainbow Valley by L. M. Montgomery and Accountable: The True Story of a Racist Social Media Account and the Teenagers Whose Lives It Changed by Dashka Slater.

As much as I’ve grown to love L. M. Montgomery’s writing, she really lost the plot on this one. Rainbow Valley is supposed to be the 6th book of the Anne of Green Gables series. Anne and her family are technically in this book, but they’ve become secondary characters, and the Meredith family takes center stage… Make it make sense.

I’m pushing through because I want to read the last book in the series, which is supposed to be about Anne’s daughter, Rilla.

If you haven’t read the Anne of Green Gables series, I do recommend it, even with my current disappointment. Up through book 5 you focus solely on Anne, which I love. I thought Anne of Windy Poplars was a bit of a miss, but it isn’t terrible. Anne of the Island is my absolute favorite one. But the series as a whole, when Anne is still the star, is delicious.

Anne of Ingleside is much more about her children. Anne only takes center stage for the last few chapters. She’s at least always present, and I do like her kids, so while it was disappointing, it was still endearing. And I can’t imagine not reading this series, so I guess I must take the bad moments to be able to savor the good ones.

Accountable isn’t a pleasant read, but it is quite well done. Slater reports on a racist incident that started amongst high school students and goes to court.

The chapters are exceptionally short, and I would say the content is accessible to teenagers and adults alike. You’re asked to sit with the miasma of racism, sexism, bullying and ponder who is accountable for the harm that’s caused by what’s typed out online, even in “private” settings. Free speech and impact also layer on complexities. I haven’t finished the reporting, so I don’t know the ultimate message just yet, but each time I read even one page, I get sucked in.

What I’m Watching

I just finished season 3 of America’s Sweethearts.

It’s so newly released that I don’t want to give away any spoilers. For once, I watched something real time. But it was such a bittersweet ending. I don’t see how they can make a season 4 without a specific cast member.

I also still feel deeply uncomfortable with the DCC organization as a whole. I wish they’d ditch those jump splits. I know that dancers are definitely athletes, and all elite athletes pay the price for operating at such a high level. But to watch these young women destroy their hips to the point of needing surgery in as little as 3 years just feels wrong.

Gymnastics banned certain moves that damaged hips or were too risky in general. Football, while still incredibly dangerous, has also made rule changes and changed out equipment to help player safety to a degree. So why is DCC so resistant to change? Can’t they tweak less than a second of their Thunder choreography? It just feels icky watching women harm themselves over and over.

I’m also watching Big Brother. It’s been an amazing start to the season this year. This cast is incredibly entertaining, and I hope they can maintain their current level of chaos. And now that I burned through all of America’s Sweethearts, I’m back to watching season 1 of Outlander.

What I’m Excited About

This is one of my favorite monthly rituals! If you don’t already do this yourself, take a peek at your calendar and allow yourself a few moments of joy for all the good that’s headed your way soon.

-My mini sessions go live! The link only goes to my mailing list. Not on it? You can join by clicking here!

-A surprise proposal. No more details so that it stays a surprise. 🤐

-Another Lake Winnipesaukee wedding. Winni is such a stunning place that I’m always excited to make the trip up there!

-Training days for Redlen’s school. He’s going to a university model school, so he’ll actually still be home 3 days a week, and I’ll be his facilitator for those days. Essentially, these training days are professional development days. I never thought that I’d be back at professional development after quitting my teaching job, so this is a fun twist! I can’t wait to meet the other parents and get to know this new community we’re a part of.

-Soaking up the last month with all 4 of us home together full time. Like I mentioned, Redlen will still be home 3 days a week. But this is the biggest change in our schedule since Esmie was born! We know we want to squeeze in another beach day, some berry picking, days at Davis Farmland, and who knows what else. We’re going to make the most out of summer

-PUMPKIN SPICE COMES BACK. I know some of you find this insulting. If that’s you, I’m not sorry. My own made up season is Pumpkin Spice season. It runs from August to Thanksgiving, which is the elite time to be a New Englander. It’s why we cry all winter long, deal with a “spring” that would be unidentifiable for anyone south of the Mason Dixon line, and fry to death in July. It’s the end of summer where it’s warm without being stifling, sweater weather, New England fall, fun drinks, crunchy leaves, and the million other small things that make it the perfect place to be. So yeah, I’m excited about it!

My photography work in August is lighter, but it’s just what I need! I have a jam packed September and October, so I will be catching up before things get crazy once again!

Until next time,

Christine