Wednesday, July 22, 2026
22 July 2026
Wednesday, July 15, 2026
15 July 2026
My parents invited my family and all of my siblings' family to a vacation in Tennessee this summer, and it was finally time to head down there! Rosebud has been counting down the days for about two weeks. She's super excited to see her girl cousins that are her same age.
There was a little alarming health issue for me on Thurs/Fri/Sat of last week, but when I finally went to the ER with it, the chest pain turned out to be strained cartilage on my ribs and the ear/jaw/throat pain was a cyst in a salivary gland. It was all manageable with some medication, so we didn't have to cancel our trip!
We packed on Monday and got on the road early Tuesday morning. We drove down to Pigeon Forge in a very uneventful manner in a red minivan we rented, which Mr. Brown calls 'Cherry'.


We arrived safely at the house my parents rented. My parents and my brother's family were already there, and cousin connections were revived. Rosebud is sleeping in the same room with her girl cousins, and D played foosball and shuffleboard and video games with the ones his age. Happy to see that they will probably be having fun together this week.
This morning Mr. Brown took Nut Brown and Rosebud to the water park with most of my brother's family. D and I stayed home because he took a fall yesterday and had some big scrapes and a twisted ankle. Grandpa took us go-carting (fun) and to lunch at a car-themed restaurant (fun) and then we did some grocery shopping for dinner and also ice cream :) . D has also been playing video games and reading his book and having quiet time, which I think is probably the best choice for him today.
Sunday, July 12, 2026
12 July 2026
This morning Rosebud decided to occupy herself by using some of her craft supplies. She got out a soap bar sized chunk of wax and began work on a bird sculpture. We looked at some bird pictures, and she sketched it out and then made a mockup of it in putty eraser, and then dove in with the carving. When Nut Brown saw what she was doing, he asked if he could join in. She gave him one of her other bars, and he started work on a human figure. They spent a long time working steadily on their projects.
Thursday, July 2, 2026
2 July 2026
My raspberry bushes have been wonderful this year. And we're having another summer with a local CSA order so we get fresh corn and other vegetables... the best tomatoes ever, and more zucchini than my kids want to eat. We are eating good this summer!







