Other People's Lives...Our Summer.

I like perusing the internet for blogs I can dive into. Since beginning this parenthood thing I've been smitten times five with the super sweet and revealing blogs of other parents. It's true what they say about people with kids wanting to hang out with other people with kids, and although I'm sure it's frustrating to those without, it makes perfect sense. I want to be moved by other people's stories and experiences, and I want to find normalcy in their raves and rants, perhaps find a comfy, quiet place to play right there between photographs and paragraphs...whatever 'graphs' they might offer.

Thanks to Joanna Goddard over at Cup of Jo, I've fallen in love with "Sweetfineday," a family from Brooklyn with the absolute most beautiful kids and occasionally mesmerizing life. The photos are amazing, the words are inspiring...I've spent far worse Sunday mornings than laying in bed and browsing Sweetfineday. Call me less of a man for pouring over these blogs endlessly, but all I'd do is punch you in the face and get back to reading them, so what's the point?

One of my favorite posts from Sweetfineday is right here. How staggeringly beautiful are these kids? It's like they fell out of a catalogue.

They're most recent posts have me dreaming about summer vacations and super simple excitements. It's got me wanting friends on a string, and beach trips with family. Time to start planning an escape, I think, but to where, and when? I recall committing myself to being a better Canadian this year, and I've always wanted to see the Eastern Counties of Ontario, like Point Edward County, near Picton. The furthest East that I've ever been in this awesome country is Cobourg, Ontario...and the furthest North and West has been Thunder Bay, so perhaps a road trip to expand those boundaries is in order. We've got good friends whom we'd love to see in Ottawa now (Mel, Jeff and Elle of Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn notoriety), and a week in the vineyards and on the beaches of Eastern Ontario sounds as close to delightful as you'll ever get a self-respecting man to use that word for. Hmmm, wheels are turning.

BTW...this first photo from this post from Onefineday made my heart swell up so much it nearly burst in my chest. A gaggle of kids, from different families and friends, in sleeping bags on the same floor in the same room on vacation together is about as definitively summer as anything I can imagine. I want a photo like that. Who's volunteering for a vacation?