There are plenty of things that I complain about this time of year, but I just can’t get enough of the blue skies, green fields, and white clouds of a Nebraska summer.

A list of links that have caught my eye over the past month* or so. *I hope to make this a more regular feature, so maybe I can work that “month or so” down to “week or so.”

This is old news by now, but the Pioneer Woman picked one of my photos for one of the groups in her recent Water assignment. I was (and still am) thrilled. (She also used it for the thumbnail for the entry, so it’s still featured when you find the article in her archives.)

Obvious Tips for Not-Very-Good Homemakers (a regular feature on the blog Every Day I Write the Book) makes me feel normal. I especially like this installment. (HT to Rebecca for e-mailing me the link.)

Mila’s Daydreams is hands-down the cutest site on the Internet, and I mean that in the best sense. Mila’s mommy tries to imagine what the little babe is dreaming about. It’s truly wonderful. I really love them all, but these are my favorites (so far). Via

Sarah has a nice entry (with lots of links) about World Breastfeeding Week (August 1–7). Ian and I will be celebrating several times a day all week long.

I really liked this article about apologizing to kids. Unfortunately it’s something I need to do more often than I want to admit. For specifics, I’ve really been trying to follow my dear friend Jamie’s example.

The Pen Story makes me want to go out and buy film and shoot it all up and develop it old-school. (Simon and I have watched this delightful stop-motion video five or six times.) Via

Yesterday we took Aunt Rhonda (Da!) to the zoo. We arrived just before lunchtime, so we just did kind of an abridged version of our normal visit (we do almost the same things every time): fed the goats (one little pellet at a time), washed our hands, skipped the eagle’s next, skipped the butterfly pavilion, imitated whatever the wallabies were doing (laying down), marveled at the tortoises, played in the sand (but not for 20 minutes), ran through the sprinkler (but only twice), skipped the monkeys and the spider web, breezed past the camels, walked right on past the gibbons (we usually do anyway), fed the lion (“Paper, paper, paper! I just looooooove eating paper!” It gets in my head every time I hear it), climbed on the playground (but not for 15 minutes), sat on the bear, jumped in the eggs (but not for 10 minutes), pointed out the new chicks, strolled past the otter (he was sleeping), said hi to the turtles, forgot all about the crocodile, created distractions so that Simon didn’t realize we were skipping the bald eagle and the telescope on the way up the hill, and, finally, rode the choochoo (we usually just wave good-bye instead of riding, but it was a special treat with Aunt Da).

My favorite exchange this time:

Me: Hey, Simon, can you tell Rhonda what these big animals are called? Can you tell her they’re camels?
Simon: No, no, no, Mommy. Those are biiiiiig goats!