So here’s a quick flick through my camera stream lately. First a photo taken by Rapunzel of her own hand. She’s not afraid to grab the camera and get in there with the interesting shots. I love that.

Another one of my old saguaro. She can’t believe that I never took this shot myself. Nope, I didn’t. Too prickly!

We had a little tiff at dinner so I’m feeling a bit sentimental as I post these photos. Teenagers are so complicated!

I spray-painted an old wooden chair my mom had laying around. I wanted to give the chair its own post but it’s not like I’m really a DIY home-decorator blog or anything so I’m just going to smash it in here instead.

Spray, spray, spray. Don’t you love it when you forget to change the ISO setting on your camera and the last thing you shot was a product shot inside at 3200 and then you go outside and over-expose everything so bad that your backyard looks like heaven from the 70′s?

Maybe that’s just my version of heaven from the 70′s.

Anyway, the chair looks fantastic! It went from country bumpkin to eclectic mess which is sort of good except I hate eclectic mess. I love the chair though. I just need to de-clutter my house a little so it can shine on its own.

It’s already a favorite for family meetings.

And vain self-portraits.

Speaking of, I need some better self-portraits because I’m A PUBLISHED AUTHOR NOW!!!! And I had to put some dumb hand-held frumpy mom shot in the back of my book. I know I could pay someone to take a real portrait but I like to keep it real (or cheap). I am self-published after all, it’s not like I have a big book-contract deal. But I do have an awesome agent/publisher friend who is hooking it all up. I’m so excited. This is really a dream come true for me.

It dropped on Amazon yesterday for my birthday! This is just a soft launch. I have two more books to illustrate and then we’re going to launch a blog tour with giveaways and prints and a book party (squee!) and I’ll probably talk about it so much you will all get sick of me. But until then check it out! $2.99 yo! It’s only on the Kindle right now I think but you can get a free kindle ap for your mac or ipad. I’ll share more when I get the hang of it. I’m new at this still. (Also available in the UK and Germany)

In the meantime I have two books still to illustrate! (And many more after that I hope) I’m so behind. If you see me goofing off, feel free to kick me in the butt. I’ve got work to do!!! It’s always feast or famine around here.

Yes, my birthday was fantabulous. Thank you for asking. We kept it low-key with a night out with my best beach gal pal DMA and a new friend on Friday and then a family dinner with the niece-com-poops and my Aunt Keren and Grandma on the day itself. My grandma made me my favorite birthday dinner (peanut encrusted Thai chicken—soooooooooo yummy you could die) and Rapunzel made my cake. How can I be mad at her when she’s so sweet like that. Teenagers! She kills me.

Anyway, it was super sweet and fun and the kids had a blastola swimming in Grandma’s community pool.

I love summer.

Why yes, I did make a peach pie. I know! All this fun going on when I have work to do!!! This is what I’m talking about. I should be shackled to my laptop but no, I’m in the kitchen pretending to be Martha Stewart or something. It’s just that it’s summer and the fruit is going bananas (or more correctly, peaches) and it’s such a wonderful new thing to me that I just can’t bear to let it rot! It’s me and the fruit flies and I’m not about to let them win.

Peaches, zucchinis, apricots, plums, sugar snap peas and soon tomatoes. I can’t even keep up with my camera. Life does not stop for the weary!

You know what time it is, don’t you? The sweat is rolling down your back, the kids have been traipsing dry grass bits in and out of the house faster than you can vacuum them up, bickering seems to be the favored form of communication…it’s time for a coffee break. An iced coffee break.

First you need some tall glasses and some little ones for the kids. Fill them with ice. Add chocolate syrup liberally. Fill the adult glasses halfway to three-quarters of the way with cold coffee and then the rest of the way with ice-cold milk. The kids get just milk and chocolate and maybe a smidge of coffee if they beg hard enough.

Like so.

Then dump out the kiddie pool and refill with warm hose water that has been baking in the sun.

Add kids…

I guarantee it will cure the summertime irrititus.

We started at Starbucks—a very expensive choice made by me but happily accepted by four non-coffee frappuccino-slurping girls. I really need to curb my caffeine habit.

Then we took Bug to gymnastics (Ballet was out for the week) and afterwards Toby took all of us to dinner on the pier in Balboa. The good thing about not seeing Toby for a whole week is that when he does see us, he doesn’t mind if there are FIVE rowdy girls instead of just two. It was a real circus.

We took Bug’s good friend “Boo” from the neighborhood. We may have been trying to show off how cool the ocean is. She was happy to oblige us and be impressed.

And the nieces. They miss their mom so much that whenever I suggested we take a picture of them together for her, they cuddled together like two little chicks and didn’t even whack each other, which is often their habit.

Us on the pier. I really need to try and be in more pictures.

The light was really cool as the sun was setting because there was this heavy fog bank that blocked the rays that would normally blind you. So we got to take interesting unusual pictures we normally couldn’t see.

Long shadows on the walk back to the car…

And more getting-along-nieces shots. Where did Rapunzel get such pretty lips? Not my side of the family.

Of course Pouty McPouterson had to join the party.

Thankfully the fun wasn’t hampered. “Don’t get wet!” I threatened in vain. Words to the wind, words to the wind…

Pretty pier.

Boo is properly excited.

It’s too bad I have my point-and-shoot camera set up to take super vertical shots and I cut off Super Chic’s face but I still love this photo. It really is a “slice of life.” A super narrow skinny slice. Super Chic is handing me shells to keep forever but of course I put them in some pocket and they are probably lost in the washing machine now. I love Rapunzel’s cackle.

More slices.

I love this shot of Boo playing jumprope with a piece of kelp. She wasn’t afraid of the slimy kelp at all. That’s my kinda kid.

The next day we initiated Boo into our traditional breakfast of doughnuts on lifeguard tower number five.

Patriotic sprinkles were enjoyed.

Tradition!

And then they were off to the sea. There really was no stopping them.

Catching a few rides in the morning soup.

This kid was unstoppable. She’s never had a boogie board before because technically she doesn’t know how to swim yet. But really, she can swim. She’s in the water more than she’s out and she’s not afraid to get her face wet at all. If she had her way, we would have been at the ocean all day and all night for probably the rest of the year. She never gets cold and she never gets tired. She borrowed a board this year and she may have found her life’s calling. I think I know what I’m getting her for her birthday this year: her own board.

Deb and Eric stopped by for a quick visit. I love my old beach friends.

By the way, Deb is on twitter now! One of these days I’ll get her to put up her own website. She really needs one. She has such amazing art.

We stopped by her house for a quick chat and I snuck in a few more photos of her art-filled house. She calls it a mess. I call it beautiful.

Rapunzel was looking particularly pretty and blue-eyed next to this stunning painting. Not sure which is prettier.

And then back to the beach! This time with sunblock.

Woooo-eeeeee! Boo took to the waves like a natural.

Bug stuck to the sand, much to my relief. I took a book to read but I couldn’t get much reading done because I was constantly looking up to count off my chicks. One, two, three, four. Phew. They’re all still alive. Then back to reading.

Which by the way, is a very good book Did you know Journey Mama wrote it? She’s such beautiful writer.

It’s just as much of a pleasure to read as her blog. She has a way with details…I’m completely engrossed in the story and quite attached to all of the characters. I’m not done yet but when I am, I’m going to have her do a guest post and maybe even a give away. I really think you all would enjoy reading it too. It’s a keeper. Of course I’m personally invested because it’s set in Northern California which is near and dear to my heart.

But back to Southern California and the waves…

I think it’s safe to say, a good time was had.