a visit into mario's world

i think because of all the rain this summer, the mushrooms, fungus, fungi, toadstools - whatever you wanna call them - are popping up everywhere. and, jack is quite disturbed by these weird creations. it has been a regular occurrence to scope these out during our outside playtime. today was the first we've seen the sun in practically a week, so it was the perfect opportunity to capture this scavenger hunt. jack calls them, mushmooms. cute.

the red berries are also popping up. these also cause some concern. he calls them bears and thinks they should have a fragrance, attempting to smell each of them. however, he obviously knows they are not for eating, saying ick as he's pointing at them.

like i said, we have had so much rain this summer. i knew it was pretty unlikely that we would have a summer like last year; 3 months of 70 degree weather day after day. but, i really didn't think it would be like this. the only thing that is keeping me from totally losing my head is knowing that in just a few months, we will be soaking up the sunshine on the glorious beaches of maui. but until then, it's mushmooms for us.



















i feel i should add a few things. my memories of alaska in the summer contain family, my cousins, smells and specific movies, but also birch trees and mushrooms. my grandparent's yard was littered with birch trees and triple that of mushrooms. my cousin markie and i would discover them - kind of the way jackie was - we would pick them apart, eventually throwing them at each other, laughing all the while. and yes, most of the time it was drizzling rain. i love the array of colors mushrooms display, i even love their distinct smell. but i guess most of all, i love my memories of growing up, and now i have memories of jack growing up, also fond of the toadstool.