oh, backyard, i love you.

i keep meaning to post pictures of the progress of our backyard, because it's changed so much since we first moved in to our home.

it used to look like this! and, wow! monrovia used to look like that too. teeny, tiny and two. this is when i was super-really-about-to-pop-pregnant with ruby and we had just moved in to our house.

now that same part of the yard looks like this:

and even though we have a ways to go, it is my favorite to be out there because we play and host and hang and make space for those who don't have their own and eat and drink and make merry and make bubbles and swing and hang from the monkey bars and garden and harvest and...it is good.

maybe i'll do a backyard tour sometime, but this is a glimpse of just the last week out there for now! it's a busy spot:

lots and lots of play

working on an interactive art piece for our neighborhood block party

 sky watching above our orange tree

 hosting a meal for youth from oakland leadership center

and just because tutus were involved and so that makes it cuter,

we made tutus and ate ice cream sundaes at a preschool ballerina party!

plus just sitting of course, because we all need to rest!

here's to rest, and places to just be, and home that feels like a landing place.