When driving up to Flathead Lake last weekend, Margot said,
I am totally, full-only so excited for this weekend.
(pronounced like full on lee)
And, just like that, full-only is my new favorite descriptor of commitment. The Full On! of the 90s needed to turn into an adverb.
Our good friends just got a boat and for two weekends in a row we’ve been the lucky tag-alongs. Perhaps it is their increasing strength and confidence in the water, perhaps it’s my increasing awareness of the preciousness of our cool, clean water, perhaps it’s because my life for the last seven years is about to change with my youngest starting kindergarten in two months. Whatever the case, I’m noticing it all. The strength, confidence, water, the time leading up to our daily rhythm changing.
I am so happy to have had Ruby at home this last year, schooling by my side. It went even better than I could have imagined: she thrived and learned, I thrived and learned. And, we have decided to enroll in public school this fall. I haven’t responded to many of your questions about our educational choices because it is a subject that belongs to my daughters and because we are figuring it out as we go — fully (full on-ly) aware (and expecting) that what feels right for our family can change. For now, our local school is right. We do plan to homeschool intermittently over the next years. And, of course – as my husband always reminds me when I am spinning out over what is best for us (oh I do think about and read about this all so very much) – we always school at home through our own love of learning and desire to be and grow with our children.
Full-Only.
:: Mermaids.
:: Always the first one awake.
:: Over dinner a few weeks ago, we developed a family summer mission statement. In an effort to resist the constant conversational flurry of “Summer is flying by!” and “I am so busy!” I sought a slower-paced naming of what it is we want during this season of long days and bare-shouldered outdoor adventure. It started as a conversation but I grabbed a pen and started recording our thoughts.
I asked questions like
What is one thing you want to do with each person in our family?
What is one thing you want to do at home?
What is one thing you want to do away from our home?
When school starts, what feeling do you hope to remember about our summer?
What do you want to learn?
Our mission looks something like: camp, swim, garden, read, write, make art and play — just the right amount, while striving for peace and ease throughout our adventures.
The “peace and ease” goal is a reminder that we want a healthy balance of getting out there and hunkering down. Not stressy. Not hurried.
:: I love camping. Scouting a flat spot for the tent, living well with very little. Teaching my kids to sharpen sticks and dig holes. Sunscreen, beadhead, same clothes over same bathing suit. No mirror, no cell service. Kids contentedly playing for hours, days with rocks and sticks and water and imagination. Falling asleep so tired in the silent, wondrous wilderness. Waking to piles of feet and paws, sun rising inside our tent. Sharing it all with Mabel, missing Alice deeply. My husband’s perfect cup of coffee, and again. And his smooches when our headlamps clink.
:: Journaling.
:: I arrange rocks. Wherever I go, I collect and sort and move them around for hours. Always have. I worked on this piece for an afternoon and left it for the next next person who washes up here.
:: A special deal for you from dig sponsor Popina retro swimwear. Hands-down my favorite bathing suits, Popina specializes in vintage swimwear that fits and lasts. My swimsuit criteria: stay on my body in a strong river current, hold shape against jumping dogs and climbing kids, give support in all the right places (got boobs? Two thumbs up: Vamp, Grace and Gina).
After trying three different suits (Popina’s customer service is outstanding!), I decided to go with another Vamp. The Jantzen bathing suits are tough to beat. I adore the sexy little skirt that gives a just a bit of butt coverage, the thick halter straps that don’t dig into my neck and the way that puppy doesn’t move around, even when I dive into a lake. Also a cool feature of the Vamp: a fitted mesh suit is under the top you can see; the fit is spectacular.
♥♥♥ Popina is giving one of you lucky ducks a suit! ♥♥♥
Simply leave a comment here for a chance to win. And, they are generously offering you 15% off with code CANUDIGIT. Go for it! You deserve to feel like a queen in your swim skivvies. You won’t regret your purchase. Thanks, Popina!
Comments closed! Coupon code remains valid. Randomly selected winner:
Congrats Becky!
:: “Nothing in the world is more flexible and yielding than water. Yet when it attacks the firm and the strong, none can withstand it, because they have no way to change it. So the flexible overcome the adamant, the yielding overcome the forceful. Everyone knows this, but no one can do it.” – Lao Tzu
:: And on the note of the beautiful quote up there: I woke at 3am last Sunday morning to horrid screaming. NO! FUCK! GET DOWN HERE! over and over again. I was in our tent with my family, on an island. I woke Andy. He ran to get our friend and together they went to help whomever needed it. I thought we were the only ones on the island. Andy had grabbed our only headlamp; we forgot the others. I lay there listening to screaming and roaring wind but then realized it wasn’t windy. Our tent, perched up on a cliff top, wasn’t moving. That is water, I realized. Huge waves yelling into the night. Andy was gone forever. An hour? My phone was dead. An hour and a half? What if he fell in. What if that person was a crazy murderer. Oh the relief I felt when I saw his light ambling up the hill. He explained the scene: a big boat, on its side up against a rock, full of water. A woman pinned between a log and the rock. A man chest-deep in water with five-foot swells pushing him into the boat. A little girl watching in terror. Matt and Andy carried a full-sized driftwood tree across the island and levered the boat up onto land. They tied off the boat. It is destroyed. Everyone is ok. Our friends’ boat – the one we rode in on – on the other side of the island in a protected bay, didn’t even move. We spent hours the next morning getting ourselves and that family safely to land. Matt and Andy made a run to shore with gear and brought back Jim, a man they met who filled his boat with gas and motored out to our island to fetch the shipwrecked family. Their boat stayed behind, beat down by that soft, embracing lake with rainbow stones and rainbow skies.
:: Wildfire smoke is rolling into our valley. Before everything is clouded, I plan to take deep breaths, run on trails and study the clear sky. Full-Only.
my husband can fly
Post details:
- Photos from Clark Fork River, Salmon Lake and Flathead Lake
- Margot’s polka dot swim suit (I just ordered another. It’s so great.)
- favorite sunscreen
- other favorite sunscreen
- favorite flip flops
- new cook stove (after last year’s fire)
- Earlywood cutting board and cooking tools
- our car camp kit
159 Comments
Ah, summer! I love how those of us in the north embrace it so fully. Sign me up for a cute new suit!!
I want that rock arrangement!
There is nothing like growing up with camping!! I wish everyone could experience it!
wow! Beautiful post. We have also chosen a summer with no stress, no rushing around or doing things we don’t want to. It’s been wonderful for all of us.
And holy crap what a 3am wake up call! So glad you were there to help, I can’t imagine how badly it could have turned out!
Wonderful nuggets, Nici. And beautiful rainbow!
Wonderful post, and I love that rainbow arrangement!
Oh, these pictures are so lovely! We just cannot enjoy camping this time of year here in South Florida. The Popina suits look so flattering and classy. I have been eyeing them already!
Does Popina have suits for flat-chested women? I have the WORST time finding a suit that doesn’t look like my falsies fell out and floated away!
Email them! They will help you find your suit.
Thanks for sharing a slice of MT summer! Love the suit!
Lovely suit, lovely summer! Enjoy it!
Oh Nici, this post! I could feel the cool breeze over that water, the warm sun on your stunning rock rainbow and the sheer panic in the distress call. I loved your questions for Summer and am inspired to create something similar on our upcoming trip to Maine. I LOVE how intentional you are and I try to consciously bring more of that in my life; the struggle is real. xoxo
Looking forward to our first visit to Montana in less than two weeks –
I’d love to be wearing that suit in your precious clear waters!
Beautiful post, can’t wait to get my kids out camping and enjoy the water as well! Ive always loved your Popina bathing suit, its really hard to find a good quality bathing suit that keeps everything in place when playing with kids!
Stunning photos as always!
I want this lake experience – sounds like pure perfection!
Beautiful post. I love summer!
Ahhhhhh. I grew up on that lake, and the sight of it soothes my homesickness just a little. I’ve got a *gulp* milestone class reunion there this summer, and I can’t wait to get back – even if just for a short trip. On a somewhat related note, I just threw away my beloved swim suit of the last eight years. Yes, I made that puppy last eight full years, and it was looking pretty sad at the end. So, your post on swimwear is very timely. I’ve got actual boobs that can’t be covered by a Target suit. I’m glad to have found the Jantzen line – looking forward to ordering one soon!
Wow what a perfect weekend (exept for the craziness at 3am, glad that family is ok and you were there to help).
Your rock arrangement is divine! LOVE! Also the striped and floral Vamp suit is calling my name, hope I win!!
Oh I desperately want a suit! I love theirs especially… and I have yet to put one on this summer. 🙁 I loathte the idea of going to the store and getting one…. kinda depressing . Thanks for the wonderful post, inspirational as usual!
Wow! what a 3am wake up call, you were meant to be there at that time to help that family. Wonderful. Glad everyone is okay. 🙂
So the shot with the cliff type and beach….. clark fork…. I have a feeling it is Potomac area perhaps?
Love your rock art. So glad you were there to help the family!
Oh Nici, that poor family. Thank goodness you heard them and helped them. And that they were okay.
Such beauty, that Flathead lake! I will never forget Gil and Jeff’s sweet wedding there.
And we have that same camp stove! Full-only!! Love to your and your gorgeous family. I wrote down your questions and can’t wait to lay them on my people at our next family meal,
xoxo
YES! to the camping nugget. I so love camping, even more so this summer with a 14-years-young pup who is most at home in the mountains. Trying to give her one last glorious summer filled with nights and days spent in the woods.
What an idyllic spot, we’re going backpacking next weekend, weather permitting. I’m so in need of a new swimsuit and they’ve got some cute ones. Count me in!
yeah for swimsuits!!
Eek! We are headed to flathead at the end of the month. Can’t wait!!! Hope to make many memories too. Would love to bring a new swim suit. 😉
Glad that family is ok.
Cheers to summer! And memories!
Oh the Flathead! Forever my home. These photos make me excited for my annual month long visit! You should check out the island on Ashley Lake, a great spot for camping!
Oh, I would love a new swimsuit! Thanks!
Holy shit, Nici. You do Summer full on (ly) RIGHT!!! I love this post, your pictures, your dog, your precious girls, your flying hubby…everything. Just perfect. Thanks for sharing.
Your photos are gorgeous!! Summer is our absolute favorite and we are enjoying similar things over here on the other side of the state. Missoula’s access to beautiful water is better than Bozemans…I have to ask is Salmon Lake the one with those samdy beaches? We used to go to Seeley lake and passed that one and never stopped…thinking maybe next time we should!!
You have the best way of capturing feelings in words…. I love your writing! PS I would love a new suit !!
Love polka dot suits.
Used to spend a week every summer camping at Bull Lake, MT. I dream of giving this kind of summer memory to my own kiddos. Man, I’d dig a new swimsuit. Seven weeks post birth of our baby girl and not excited about my current swimsuit situation.
What a beautiful place! Here’s to a full only summer!!!
I love your thoughts on camping!
i love Andy’s “we always school at home” response. So true, in any circumstance. A pastor told my husband and I one time that each summer they reevaluated school. Their motto was “each child, each year” which I love because things change so quickly and so often that I feel it’s good not to be too stuck with a certain school in choice.
I, too, am preserving this summer. Like you, my youngest heads to kindergarten this fall and Though I finally reached the Holy Grail of Motherhood I’ve been yearning for all these years. BUT it feels dirty and empty and sad and I wish I never wished it to come.
Full-only, indeed.
Amen.
I can’t find my favorite bathing suit – guess I need a new one. The retro suits are the best. And your posts are too. What a scary wake up call…so glad help was there!
The rainbow of rocks rocks! Thanks for the reminder to full only embrace all of summer. xo
All of these pictures—so beautiful. I look forward to camping with my little family soon!
Love the summer list. And I thought I was the only one who liked organizing rocks… Those swim suits look pretty amazing!
As I lay here in bed next to my husband while we watch Van Helsing, I keep showing him your pictures, “this! This is why I have been reading her blog for years!” Seriously, Nici. You’ve inspired me as a mom/human more than you’ll ever know. Much love from NY, Jessie
I adore the stone piece and that suit is spot on! A catch in my throat that your husband and friend didn’t hesitate to answer a plea in the night.
I’ve been eyeing up the Popina swimsuits for a few years now. Oh how sexy and practical they seem all at once. Thanks for all the tips. And the beautiful stories and pictures. Man, I hope you frame the picture of the rocks, that is some serious natural artwork. And how beautiful that you left it for someone else to find.
I’d recognize those purple cliffs anywhere. When was the last time I ever bought a full price swimsuit? 10 years ago…. mama needs a suit.
I love what you posted in regards to schooling. It is such a personal decision and one that surely doesn’t need to be finite. We homeschooled last year for 4-k with the intention of continuing longer, but our circumstances changed, our girl needs some extra care. We’ve chosen public school for her this year and will homeschool her little sis for 4-k. Our choices are made with many variables in mind, but the constant that remains is that we can reevaluate what is best for our children and for our family at any point in each new season. Oh, how I’ve read and read on this topic as well and it’s so easy to be swayed and feel as if someone else’s decision is better. Thank you for sharing but also being vague. So grateful your family was able to assist someone else’s in a time of need. It’s so good to see you back at nuggets…I missed you while you breaked-but I totally get it!
Love your blog. And love the suit. Loving summer with my little one as well.
Ugh, that story about the family and the boat. So scary.
Swimsuits. I got a high-waisted two piece from ASOS that I really like. They have a “fuller bust” (or something like that) line that comes in actual bra sizes with separate bottoms. BUT my one piece from Popina a couple of years ago is just a wee bit too small now post-baby, so I’d be so happy to have another!
Thanks for including time to write and inspire the rest of us in your summer to-do list!
Stunning pictures, wishing just a little for balmy summer evenings as I look at your blog in the midst of a sub zero cold snap in NZ. Love love love that Vamp swimsuit – so in need of a new one for summer when it comes.
I adore the questions you had for your family about your summer wishes – especially the ‘what feeling do you want to remember’ one. This gets at the guts of it doesn’t it? Thanks for the reminder to slow it all down and let time unravel more gently during this season. I had been having a few cranky days while trying to remember how to disconnect from the fast flow of outside obligations and slow down to sweeten up our moments – I was a bit stuck in my head about it all and getting a bit cheesed at my inability to find that summer groove. As always nature cured what my mind could not. A few hours on the edge of an ocean watching my littles hunt for treasure glass and I exhaled deeply and remembered just what to do with summer.
Fine photos, but the richness of your descriptions renders them unnecessary. Great piece of writing.
Love your blog! We are in south fl, so it is not camping season:). But I cannot wait until it is, your post makes new dream of our upcoming calling adventures! The suits are awesome too!
The next time we are at a lake with multicolored rocks I plan to make a rainbow like the one you made. I will let my wife of 42 years praise me for a while – telling me I’m so innovative, so clever– and then I’ll confess and give you credit.
Another wonderful glimpse into your young family’s life. Thanks for sharing your beautiful pictures and thoughts!
love the new word and your excellent writing. I feel like I have been on the trip with you all – thank you! I love the mission statement and plan to go home and share with my grown kids so they don’t make the same mistakes I made when they will little. I will always regret that we didn’t actually take time to live in the moment. I am headed to check out those cute suits
Every time I read your blog, I want to move back to Montana.
We’re just back from a family camping adventure ourselves! (http://janemacdonaldphotography.com/2015/07/camping-favourites/) Love your words and your photos. So glad that you were there to help the family in need. I hope you have a wonderful summer!!
what an outing! Hope you all took in and appreciated the fragility of your surroundings (glad it wasnt a bear!)
heading out with a good suit in tow sounds like a must have to me. sign me up for the suit if it is still open please.
I would love to win a new swimsuit! Also, I can’t wait to boat on the Flathead again – the water is so beautifully clear!
Your posts are the perfect level of encouragement to go-go-go but pause-pause-pause and enjoy it as well! I love camping also and this year it’s a whole new adventure now that we have two little boys! Thanks for sharing all your pictures!
I long for beautiful summer days and nights in state as beautiful as your Montana… Picture perfect!
Just started swim lessons. mama needs a new suit 🙂
This post is really making me regret not planning a camping trip this summer. I have not bought a new bathing suit in over 10 years, and I think it’s time to retire my current one. Those retro suits are exactly what I’m looking for!
Nici, these pictures are beautiful! Your camping site looks so peaceful. This is what summer is all about. I want to take my kiddos camping in Montana!
I love your posts and how you strive for simplicity in this crazy thing we call life. Loving the beautiful clear water and the time you enjoy with your loved ones.
I am SO glad that family was okay. Thank goodness your friends and Andy were there to help them. I was a lifeguard for years and years, and because of that I am always extra cautious (my boyfriend might say overly cautious) around water. I know it takes just one wrong moment. Also because I was a lifeguard, I dislike most women’s bathing suits! Most aren’t designed to be cute while everything to stay secure (hello boobs!) in the water. We like the swimming holes in the Appalachian mountains, usually the river is calm but there’s definitely still a current!
That search for peace, I get that. Having a mission to achieve, I want that. I sit here, looking for the right words to express where I am at in that journey, and all I can think is “I want that. That moment that helps me see how to navigate the next few months.” Thank you for sharing the way you do, the hard moments that lead to better moments. It give me hope for the future I cannot stop stressing over.
Would love a new swimsuit! Great blog!
i love the rock art! So beautiful – in so many colors!
I grew boobs with pregnancy…I have no idea how to keep them in and with three beach vacations coming up, this is a very timely post!
Beautiful post. Thank you for sharing.
Providential you heard their cries for help…thankful you could. I would love to win the Popina swimsuit! HS lifeguard/swim instructor now older and needing a great suit to keep the girls tamed and the hips covered!
I love reading your blog posts. And that rainbow of rocks? Amazing.
What an experience that lake trip was! Grateful you heard that family in crisis.
A new swimming suit would be a treat! I have been coveting retro swim suits lately. And yours is beautiful!
not sure if I’m eligible up here in Canada, but I’ve loved those suits ever since I first saw them on your blog!
Love your blog ! I love hearing all of your stories and seeing the beautiful pictures. Would love to win a popina swimsuit!
I can feel the water splashing as I looked at your photos. I am entering a new world of independence with my own daughters this summer. They are wanting me near, but not to near. Present but just in the shadows as they together explore, just our backyard 🙂 Its a wonderful thing to witness. It is a wonderful thing to know I am a part of their world.
I love your summer motto. I have felt a similar pull towards summer activities. It shouldn’t feel stressed out or crazy. I have a tendency to over-plan things and then when things don’t go according to plan there is much huffing and puffing on my part. Learning to let go more and trust my gut for accepting or declining invitations.
Oooooh your pictures look like heaven on Earth!!! Thank you for sharing them with those of us not in your neck of the woods! I’m so thankful you heard that man screaming! How scary!! I’m glad your hubby was able to save them!!
What a great swimsuit! And Flathead lake is probably my favorite place in the world.
Your vacation looks dreamy! Love your family!!
I love how your photos and prose mirror the rhythms of your activities. So beautiful!
This makes me smile…
I loved this post! We went to Montana 4 years ago for our honeymoon. Id love to return some days and check out those colored rocks. Your rock art is beautiful and so is your state.
I am from Virginia and while the water in your pictures is beautiful I bet it would be cold to me! I can’t imagine jumping in like your girls.
Such a great post! Would love to win a cute new suit!
I savor your posts, would love a new suit, and wonder if you would consider selling 3×5 or 5×7 photo prints of your rainbow arranged rock photos from here (or others that you’ve taken at another time)?
My younger brother is marrying his partner next Friday and I’ve been dithering over what gift to bring. If I had this photo to put in a frame with their wedding invitation and photo, I think my worries would cease. He’s a land manager for a non-profit and is very into nature and preservation, so I believe he’d appreciate the beauty of your composition as I do.
PS Love seeing your girls growing up in your photos and blog postings. It’s encouraging to see them thrive.
LOVE to see these camping stories! We are taking our kids camping for the first time next weekend and I am busting with excitement!! Also, I have been browsing that exact site for a new suit! Glad to hear all the rave reviews!! Would be so cool to win one!!
I want the suit and the rocks! Beautiful inside and out!
I’ve wanted a Popina suit for awhile now!
a cute suit that stays where it is supposed to? pick me! pick me!
Love this post! Been dreaming of camping recently and can only imagine how refreshingly wonderful it would be to swim in your lake, full of such beautiful rocks and clear enough to see them! At 8 1/2 months pregnant, the lake sounds like paradise. Thanks for the years of pictures and stories. I’ve loved them all along.
What a beautiful story you tell with your words and photos! Thank you for sharing! Super cute suit too!
Oh man! Thank you for the chance! I need a new suit very, very much.
Have loved following your Summer adventures.
Would love a new suit…my target one is completely done and the season has only just begun….
Love your summer goals!
Oh my goodness, that pic of your husband jumping high with little faces looking on, perfection. Thank you for the link to the swimsuit, I got a lot of wonderful deals for my daughter while I was there! Very cute suit for you too, cute and elegant.
Nici,
Would you care to share one or two of your favorite camping spots? We’re in Montana for the month (drove from the Bay Area, camping along the way 🙂 and would love to have a tip or two.
I’ve only been reading your blog for a short time but have found myself captured by your spirit. The writing, as always, is beautiful and tender. I long for the simplicity and easy going nature I sense in your posts. We have a 2 year old and a 4 year old and have been holding off on the whole camping thing the last few years. We had a wretched experience when my son was young and I couldn’t torture myself with that lack of sleep again! Feeling a little braver now, and perhaps next year when they’re 3 and 5 it’ll be camping perfection. On a side note: How does your husband make his perfect coffee?! Does he have some secret camping recipe?
This suit is so cute. Your pics are stunning. Love that summertime magic.
Such a darling suit!! I’d love to win one 🙂
Gorgeous pictures! I’d love to win one of those suits, I’ve been eyeing them for a while!
Love Popina…this suit is super cute.
Would love a new swim suit. I am still wearing my itty bitty college binini because I just can’t justify the cost of a new suit. This means I spend way too much time in a cover up and too little in the water!
Too fun! Sarah
Perfect summer post!
Oh my goodness those photos – and I’d love a suit too! 😉
You make me want to live in Montana!!!
Would adore a new suit! <3 And that rock arrangement is absolutely stunning. Nature sure is breath taking.
Hey there! This girl is in need of a nice swim suit. Also, I dig your blog and sweet family. Sending love from Washington!
Sara
Oh good golly. I reeeeeally would love an amazing swimsuit!!! Thank you for the opportunity!
So…I haven’t worn a swimsuit in ages. I’ve been shopping. It has to happen. How lucky would I be if I won?! It would confirm that it’s REALLY time to get myself into a suit again. For real. And that time on the lake looks absolutely perfect.
That suit is awesome, but the storytellng is even better. Summer…it’s the best.
this mama of 6 needs a sexy new suit!
I love reading about your adventures, reading your beautiful words and envy your magnificent surroundings! Love, love the Popina swimsuits! The blue and white polka dot is my fave,
Stunning photos! We always do a beach vacation, but this post has me thinking about giving a lake vacation a try… And a new suit would be a nice treat!
I love this post! I’m not a pro at camping with or without kids but this gives me so many ideas. Definitely sharing this post!
I love your blog and always find peace and inspiration in your posts!
Ready or not body….here comes a new swimsuit (fingers crossed)!
What a beautiful location you are in!!
Full only beautiful!
Every time you write a post of your adventures it makes me savor the memories of my childhood growing up in MT. There is nothing quite like home!
Oh the love I have for popina!! That suit is amazing! !
The rocks… I would’ve had trouble not filling my pockets (and my daughters’ pockets).
I need a swimsuit with a sexy little skirt! 😉 beautiful blog post!
Life Savers. Glad the ending was a happy one.
Thanks for the chance to win a lovely suit.
You are such an amazing storyteller! And what a cute suit!
Any yellow polka dot bikinis?? Well, I don’t wear bikinis anymore, but I still love yellow! Hehe
Such cute suits!
This post makes me long for vacation and adventure!
Love that suit! It is beautiful.
On another note with the beauty and power of water, we are here in Indiana, with way too much much rain. My family made it home safely in a horrid rainfall expecting to find that the creek was over the road, but it wasn’t and we were able to get to our house. So we say and sang the creek blessing song. Thank you for introducing that to us!
Love the rainbow rocks!!! How lovely!!
I started getting swimsuits from Popina a few years ago- so worth it!
looove that description of your love for camping. made me so excited to feel it in the future. gorgeous photos to accompany the words, as always.
That beach on the Clark Fork is so magical! And I have been coveting a Jantzen suit for ages. xo
Your blog reminds me to live my life to the fullest, thank you for that.
Also, Ruby’s hair is so long!
Love camping! Especially with kids! And trying to love myself in a swimsuit. Turning 35 last week has urged me to embrace myself, flaws and all. Full on-ly 🙂
I’ve been following for years, but this is my first comment because I full on-ly want that suit for my post baby bod!
Your nuggets were a refreshing surprise last week and then again tonight as I reread them. Talk about etching memories….for babies and for the adults. Wishing you many more savory summer days.
Ok, posting glitch…Your nuggets were a refreshing surprise last week and then again tonight as I reread them. Talk about etching memories….for babies and for the adults. Wishing you many more savory summer days.
Would love the suit! It’s too stinking cute!
Yay for summer and Montana lakes!
Nothing beats summer in Montana!
I could use a new swin wear and a week on wild horse!
Your summer photos capture everything I crave and miss about western Montana.
Popinas Retro Paula is calling my name 🙂
Would love a new swimsuit. These are so pretty.
Yes! to ombre rock art installations and Yes! to this cute suit by Popina. I’m crossing my fingers + toes for the win, as my thrift store bathing suit collection is fitting way too wonky to work for this bod this summer. XO
You are giving your girls the best childhood memories ever!! Also I have loved all your food and recipe posts this summer so far. They have been so inspiring! Please keep posting more 🙂
I love your blog and photos. Have noticed etst and these suits. Look amazing!
This suit is soooo cute!!!! I’d love a chance to win it!
Beautiful photos! I love how you do summer. I’d love a new suit!
I love Popina! I’ve been in their shop once and bought a suit. It was quite a splurge so winning one with a tad more support this time around would be grand 🙂
Sounds like that Popina suit checks all of the boxes for being a stylish, yet functional, swimsuit. Love that!
Wow, what a story about the boat that had turned over. I’m glad everyone is okay.
We just returned home (living in Tacoma now, but it will always be “home”) to Montana for 3 weeks to visit our family and friends. So much fun! My only regret is that I didnt make it up to the lake (Flathead) before making the 7.5 hour drive back to Washington.
Lying in bed next to 5-yo Mr. Sticky on Sunday night, I said,”That was a fun weekend.” He whispered back, “It super was.” Full-ONly, baby!
Love those those rocks! And love that swim suit. Your blog always reminds me that I need to get my littles out adventuring more. Montana summers are too great to waste!
Haven’t been here in a while and have missed your pics!
Oh Nici! Your posts always make me smile. I’d love a new suit to rock on our Maine trip in a few weeks!
Oh my, how Sandy Beaches would be in a suit like that! Fingers crossed.
My little AZ family just spent some time in the WY/CO region splashing in clear waters and hiking. Nothing like it. I even got over my childhood fear of lake creepies by swimming in Firehole Canyon at Yellowstone. Bucket list item for sure!
PS: love retro swimsuits!
Your kids live a charmed life. Well done, Mama. And please include me in Popina giveaway!
Love the Nuggets and reading about your adventures. I’m so glad that family is ok. How scary. I’m looking forward to hearingbout your fab summer!