for once, then, something

a dreamy week on peaks island with the entire family. we did this ten years ago, before oona, stella, and ben even existed, and we rented the same cedar house in the woods that can accommodate our sprawling group and its sleeping, coffee drinking, feast-cooking-and-eating, and game-playing needs.

here i am hanging out with stella on the front porch of our rented idyll.

my favorite was the foggiest day and the leisurely walk around the island with zoë. the colors of wildflowers and girls in pretty dresses just glowed in the cool fog.

of course there were dogs, although not our own. oona and i started off by counting every dog we saw, but we quickly lost count. this guy was my favorite.

and this guy wandered in the open door just after i'd commented, "what this house needs is a dog." his name was fillippo, and my mom invented a past for him which involved a traumatic early life in puerto rico. he had a drink and then trotted off, back down the road from whence he came.

and the award for "most patient cousin" goes to my boy, who was always available to be played with, ordered around, and climbed upon.

this is chicken in a box.

my dad and beautiful ben. one night we all babysat while david and ellen went out to eat. we traded the baby back and forth, smelled his head and kissed his cheeks and even gave him a bottle despite the fact that he probably wasn't hungry, just for the fun of it.

my family.

the obligatory cousin shot.

i made oona pose for photos despite the fact that mosquitoes were biting her ankles. "ow!" she'd say, and i'd say, "use that emotion! look frightened! look furious! look to the right!"

can't you just see her in an anthropologie catalog?