So, I've been thinking.
About how amazing this opportunity is to be here, in Alaska, for the summer.
Our usual visit of two or three weeks whizzes by with such speed that it is nearly over by the time we settle in. But this time feels so different.
Luke asked me last night when Daddy was coming as I wrote some things on the calendar. I flipped the page to July and said Daddy will be here in just over a month. A month.
And that's when it hit me.
I want the kids to look back on this summer with a heart full of memories. I want them to see a picture and smell the salty air and hear the seagulls. Feel the cold damp air on their cheeks. I want them to remember the smell of the forest, always, as they tromped through it in rubber boots and crinkly rain jackets. The thrill of riding the zipline down the hill. I want them to pick handfuls of berries for eating and for jam making. Buoy swings. Mud. Mosquitoes. I want them to walk with me by the ocean every day that we're here and celebrate the sun each time it reaches through the clouds to shine upon us. The good kind of tired after a long hike up a mountain. Marshmallows. Bonfires. Family. I want to write and write and write. Take a zillion or so photographs. Try something new. Laugh. Knit. Explore.
So there it is. An accidental manifesto of sorts.
And how about you? What will you do for your summer? How will you make memories?
I'd love to know…..
xo,
stephinie
Sweetbrier Farms Journal 
Looks like a BIG slice of heaven Stephinie. Enjoy EVERY moment of it with your kiddos. Ah…
Our days are little less breathtaking down yonder.;) Lots of bike rides, lots of trips to the library, lots of time splashing in the community pool…Still, good times all the same when you are with the ones you love, no?
xo!
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Beautiful!
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Italians have a tradition of going to the sea every year “tutti al mare”. If they don’t go it’s a matter of life and death. So we are making a pilgrimage to the sea for the second year in a row. This time with baby outside of the womb. I hope that this summer will bring very fond memories of travel. We are also trying to camp a lot. So this summer is about getting outside no matter how hot it is.
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We just began writing our list today, big things and small, but a constant for us is that summer always includes lots of time at the beach. How lucky we are, to live so close, to get to know a piece of the shore so well–and how lovely you and your kids get to do that on *your* shoreline this summer! Enjoy! (And perhaps you will come home and carve some Alaska-inspired stamps?!)
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In a word, lovely.
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thank you t!
~xoxo
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absolutely!
cheers to a wonderful summer 🙂
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I love {LOVE!!} this. A pilgrimage to the sea. It’s so perfect. Enjoy your trip 🙂
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lovely, indeed
wishing you a very lovely summer 🙂
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I’ll be looking for stamp inspiration now! What a lovely idea 🙂
And yes to beach time and outdoor time during the summer.
I really love the idea of making a list…. I am definitely sharing that idea with the kids next week!
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Are you in Juneau or Ketchikan? We did a cruise up the Alaskan coast and since I live in British Columbia I thought, “how different can it be?” Well, let me say that it was MAGNIFICENT! It was like nothing I have seen before. I loved Alaska and would go back in a minute. Have a wonderful happy summer and let the sea sweep its way into your dreams.
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Thank you~~
We are in Cordova. {Prince William Sound}. We’ll be headed to Sitka in a few weeks to visit friends, very close to Juneau. We are certainly loving our time here 🙂
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The naturally unfolded manifestos are the best, hands down. I am catching up, Stephinie, after too long away from everyone else’s blogs, yours included. I hope all is well. As always, your online space and images of your days are beautiful.
Nicola
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I'm glad you swung by…. and even more glad that you are enjoying some unscheduled time in your life. Happy summer to you!
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