Last summer I made an album with some of my favorite photos from the summer. I printed the pictures in a 5 inch square size and did a little journaling around them after I adhered them to cardstock. An embellishment or two and a cute rememberance of summer past. The season is so fleeting I decided I wanted to do something again this year but change it up a bit. So my friend Kim and I are each doing one with some chipboard we have. We motivate each other and draw on each other's creative energy. I decided to do my 100 favorites of the summer of 2009 so I've started putting photos in a folder on my computer. Since we're halfway through the summer already here are some of my favorites. I'll be sharing more.

..is it possible I haven't been over here since March? Thanks ElevenStones for reminding me. We celebrated Crystal and Kevin's first wedding anniversary the end of March. They've made a very happy life together. Winter finally left us here in New England and Matt and I made a visit to the shore in Connecticut. I love the ocean and any time, no matter the season, I can go I'm there! We had a beautiful sunshiney day and I was able to get my feet in the water lots. Water temp was 42 degrees but that didn't matter to me.  Oliver continues to keep us entertained and on our toes. No longer a kitten he's grown and filled in. Very willful he's hard to disuade from anything he wants to do. He's also a very loving and affectionate companion to us with lots of cuddles and kissing. We celebrated Mother's Day with Crystal and Kevin, visiting Matt's mom as well. My mom has been gone for 25 years this Father's Day and we're very lucky to still have Matt's mom with us. We made a drive out to the Albany, NY area, where I grew up, in May to visit the Empire State Plaza. My dad worked for one of the construction companies during it's construction in the '70s. Sunday afternoons he, my mom and I would go for a drive down there so he could share the week's progress with us. That's the State Capitol building in the center. It was quite a trip down memory lane for me also going into Schenectady where I had my first job out of college and going by the building that housed the Law Firm I worked for. My best friend came up late in May for a visit from Florida. We spent two days of her visit together doing all our favorite things with each other and having a blast! We're both avid picture takers and we did a load of picture taking during those days.  Matt and I went to our second "Strolling of the Heifers" parade in Brattleboro, VT and we enjoyed it as much as our first.   The young cows and their young owners are the stars of the parade but there's also lots of bands as well as many other agricultural groups, dance schools, and, it seems, most of the town marching. It draws about 60,000 people each year to this little town in southern Vermont. This week is our vacation and we've started the fun already. Treated Matt to a train ride in the Berkshires for an early Father's Day gift. We also toured author Edith Wharton's home 'The Mount'. She designed and built it in the early 1900's and it's undergone a restoration. There's still work to be done but many of the rooms are complete as well as the grounds and beautiful formal gardens. As you can see it was a beautiful day. We have so many things near us to enjoy we don't have to travel far to have a wonderful vacation.