Day 1726 | Last Day of Summer Vacay

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What do you do with your last day of summer vacation? Whatever you want, of course! We had a play date with a friends (and brought donuts). We had pasta pillows (ravioli) for lunch. We watched a movie AND played video games (Minecraft…our newest obsession). We played outside and ate dinner al fresco (including a surprise visit from grandma and grandpa). We stayed up past bedtime (for the boys, not us) to make a run for ice cream.

It was a good end to a really great summer. I’m happy to say that I’m sad to see the season come to an end. I’d rather be in this situation than waiting to kick them out the door. I just love these little nuggets so much. They’re fun to be around and make me laugh every single day. I’ll definitely miss my favorite buddies during the day—even if they end up with weird mustache/goatees after eating ice cream.

Day 1724 | New Animals

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As the days of summer slip away, we continue to check things off our bucket list (I promise I’ll post an updated one soon!).

Todays line item was “looking for new animals”. We headed to Beaver Creek Reaerve for this adventure. I managed to convince the boys to go on a ~2 mile hike and everything. The trail wasn’t well groomed, the mosquitoes were fierce, and the only animal we spotted was a butterfly (seriously…no birds or squirrels even), but we had a really good time. It was fun to see the boys in that environment without complaining or whining. Spontaneous adventures are fun—today was a good reminder of that.

Also, Robbe discovered that animals like to poop on stairs so it wasn’t a totally wasted trip.

Day 1718 | A Wedding

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Sorry for the lack of posts the last couple of days, but we’ve been *a bit* busy.

Weddings are the best. And the one yesterday between my brother and his bride definitely lived up to my [high] expectations. The ceremony was perfect (I laughed. I cried—a lot. I loved every second of it.)! And the reception afterwards was just so much fun (and the food, the dancing, and the cocktails, were spot on). These two really do know how to throw a good party.

MY TOP FIVE MOMENTS OF THE DAY (in no particular order):

  1. Listening to my brother’s vows. I loved hearing him confess his undying love for this woman.

  2. Rocking out to my nieces’ and sister inlaw’s performance of Seasons of Love. I’ll post a video if I ever get one. It was beyond incredible.

  3. Seeing the boys all dressed up. Nothing cuter than little boys in bow ties.

  4. The pampering. It turns out having your make up done and hair fancied-up is really lovely. I’m thinking about doing it every weekend now.

  5. The family and friend time. What’s better than being in a room with a ton of your favorite people, you know?

With all of these amazing takeaways, can you believe I have practically zero photos?!? I’m so annoyed with myself. I did snap this selfie with me and the boys, though. That’s something! Hopefully more to come as others share some of theirs.

I’m beyond happy to welcome my new sister in law into our family. And I’m beyond grateful to have been asked to be a part of her bridal party. I felt so honored to be standing by her side.

Congrats again, Matt and Marisa!

Day 1714 | A Summer Bucket List Day

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We’re a bit behind on this year’s summer bucket list. With a quiet Saturday on the docket, we decided to knock a few of the items off the list. Mini golfing: check! A bike ride through the sculpture tour: check! Homemade ice cream (in a bag…who knew?): check!

2019 SUMMER BUCKET LIST

  • Go fishing — done!

  • Go mini golfing — done!

  • Go swimming — done!

  • Catch frogs — done!

  • Look for new animals

  • Playdate with Malcolm — done!

  • Attend a baseball game — done!

  • Go bowling

  • Make a movie

  • Make homemade ice cream — done!

  • Lots of playdates with Edwin — done!

  • A Fairfax Pool trip — done!

  • Go camping

  • Bike to get ice cream — done!

  • Go to a family wedding — next week!

  • Attend Chalkfest — done!

  • Sleepover at Grandma and Grandpa’s — done!

  • Attend Harry Potter’s Birthday at the public library — done!

  • Go tubing down the river by our house

  • Walk/bike the sculpture tour — done!

  • Attend a summer concert (at least one)

  • Practice stand up paddle boarding

  • Read three new chapter books — done!

  • Take a Mississippi River day trip

  • Visit the Upper Peninsula

  • Go strawberry picking — done!

  • Go blueberry picking — done!

Day 1713 | Swim Lessons

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In March, I signed the boys up for two back-to-back sessions of swim lessons. That’s four weeks of Monday-Thursday lessons. No joke if you know me and my fear of over-scheduling my [our] life. Swim lessons seemed like a necessity, though, so I bit the bullet and signed four weeks of our summer away.

It turned out to be the right choice—no question! Chase’s transformation has been incredible to say the least. He’s jumping off the diving board into the deep end with no floaty and no hesitation. He’s working on all the strokes and learning to dive. I think he might have surpassed my swimming abilities at this point! And both boys are really enjoying the time in the pool. There has been no complaining at all. Can you believe it? Me neither.