Taking trips to parks to play for hours while mom reads on the park bench.
Riding bikes and eating popsicles. Begging to buy ice-cream from the ice-cream truck who makes nightly trips down our street.
Going on field trips with our friends to hike trails and swim, to have sleepovers and build forts.
No tv after 10:00AM. No coats. No schedules.
Just fun and friends and lazy days.
Definitely enjoying our summer. How about you?
We started off on the trails.
Julia realized she was way ahead of me and came back to make sure I hadn't left her. (Not that I EVER have mind you.)
(Omg, I love this kid. He is my favorite.)
Julia would declare quite often that she did not need me to hold her hand....until she did need me to hold her hand and then she'd panic if I didn't do it fast enough.
Henry found a skull. I'm thinking it's a deer, because, as Evan pointed out looking at the picture, it only has molars and no carnivore-type teeth.
Elisabeth found part of a lower jaw of the same kind of animal as the one Henry found. (Our kids were SUPER excited to have found such great treasures. And, yes, they totally kept them and they are drying them out.)
We had so much fun. The kids hiked for about 3 hours and most of it was in the creek. They were muddy and wet and so, so happy. It was a fantastic day.
A certain 2.5 year old was her usually bubbly self.
Evan found the exact chalice he wanted to use during communion.
My best friends were lined up looking beautiful in periwinkle blue.
My dad walked me down the aisle and he didn't do one ornery thing along the way.
The flower girls tried their very best to entertain themselves.
Our friends and family watched as Evan and I said vows that couples before us had been saying for centuries.
I danced with my husband to Frank Sinatra's "Easy to Love".
Matt danced with his soon-to-be wife Kyle.
Evan's best friends stopped talking and laughing long enough for a great picture of the 4 of them.
Elisabeth looked beautiful in her dress.
I married Evan, who I'd been dating for over 6 years.
It was a beautiful day.
I miss thunderstorms. They are more frequent in Illinois and so rare here. So, you won't hear me complaining about the weather today. Rain and storms with spots of sunshine. It kind of matches my mood today, too.
What are your plans today? I'm planning a trip to the Y and the grocery store, but otherwise, I'm hanging out at home today doing some cleaning and organizing and whatnot.
What are you reading? I'm in the middle of reading World War Z by Max Brooks. It's a post zombie war book. I won't lie, it totally has captivated my imagination. I'm not a zombie "fan" (although, I do enjoy watching The Walking Dead on AMC...have you seen it?!) but the idea of this book sounded super interesting. But, as you can see from looking to your right at my list of recent books I've read, I'm not one to read only one genre of books. If you recommend it, I'll read it. Recommendations from all different genres is how I've ended up read some amazing books and authors.
So, tell me what's new with you. Any plans for this weekend? Summer outings that you're excited about? It's almost here, you know.
As you leave today, I'd ask you please keep my cousin's daughter in your thoughts. She's only 10 and is in the intensive care unit. She's been sick for a month now and they in need of a miracle. If you are the praying kind, your prayers would be much appreciated. If you're the positive thoughts kind, those are just as needed. As a parent, I can't imagine what my cousin and his wife are going through. It breaks my heart. She's been on my mind constantly.
Julia did an awesome job; better than she did even in the fall. She wanted to climb all the big rocks like Elisabeth and was determined not to be left behind.
When did Elisabeth get so big?
She refused to smile for pictures...
so I had to be sneaky about capturing just how much fun she was really having.
One of my favorite pictures ever:
We'll be going back to explore the other half of the park. It was beautiful and so much bigger than we'd thought!
