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Friday, August 13, 2021

SUMMER

Summer. We are a summer family. Well...Mama sweats into a puddle all summer. The NC humidity gets her even while in an airconditioned house. Cale doesn't love summer anymore but the kids and I love it. Especially me. 


I thought a fun way to update on a few things going on in our life would be to do a "flashback" and then a "present" for each post. 


FLASHBACK-

We started summer with Nora flying to Texas without us! September who our kiddos call Auntie Ber has moved to Texas from WA. Nora had been begging to go for a visit so we put all the planning into motion, September flew here and a few days later, off they went! 









While Nora was off having her adventures, Easton started swim lessons & had lots of play dates with friends. :) 

After a little over a week we met them...not quite in the middle. We drove a little over 5 hours and they had I think a 15 hour drive. Uhh...

We stayed in Tennessee for a few days adventuring all together and then home we went. 








We've crafted & had a fun day celebrating the 4th



I took the kiddos to SC to visit some really sweet & special friends! They both have asked multiple times when we could go back for another visit. :)



These two just keep growing. Summer added some height on them! 



We took a beach trip for a couple days with friends! 

It was a summer FULL of fun. We took a few trips and enjoyed all the sunshine and sweetness summer brings. My favorite part of this last summer was all the friends we had over. We had friends we love and know well and then we also had a LOT of new friends over. We loved them all and they truly were such a gift to our lives. It was the simple moments and conversations on our deck that filled our tanks.



PRESENT-

Last weekend we had our end of summer celebration. We did this last year sparked from a summer in COVID-19 shutdown land. It was so special and we all loved it so much, we did it again! 


Last year I had gone through my phone and picked out several pictures and had them printed and then we looked through them. This summer I had gotten a mini polaroid and we took one picture for every day during the summer. As we took them we hung them up in the dining room and would look at them often. 

For the ceremony we pushed the table out of the way, set up the chairs and went over all of the pictures reminding ourselves of all the fun that was had. SO fun! 

After looking at the pictures and talking about them, we have questions that we answer about our favorite things. Questions like, what was our favorite books we read, food we ate, places we visited and stories we'll keep on telling for years to come. 






Next Mama and I give awards. Last year we only gave to the kiddos but Cale was sad he didn't get one so we included him this year! Haha. 

They love this part so much. We spend time thinking about their summer and any way we saw them grow. This year we had bravery, hospitality, wisdom and a few others. I read a description to them I  had written for each award given and why we chose it. It's just such a special time. 


We also have a yummy treat- root beer floats for the second year in a row! Along with Charades this year and a movie. 

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Are there moments when fun things like this feel like a lot and I'd rather just simplify or skip? Absolutely. However, I can see in my kiddos how much these kinds of things mean to them. They're already talking about next years celebration. 

It's not because they're getting a bunch of gifts and things are all about them. They love our family doing it all together. They love talking about all of our summer adventures and all the fun we had. 

School starts soon and we're also very ready for routine and the next season to roll in. Even the kiddos are so excited and ready! 
 

3 comments:

  1. Dear One~~ You are an amazing mom. Your children will have such wondrous memories from their childhood. I think I was too....not into quite so much effort. I enjoyed doing things, but not quite the same.

    This year was the year Lily (10 years old) went to see her Auntie Naomi all by herself on the plane. It was quite an experience. Her mama was able to go to the gate with her. Lily had a stewardess walk her to her private row. As a minor she couldn't have anyone sit with her. She was kind of excited about that. Her Auntie met her at the gate in Reno/sparks.

    Swim lessons were kind of funky this past year. The instructors couldn't get in the water with the kids. There had to be an adult with each child, and instead of a full class there could only be so few students.

    Nora is almost as tall as you. How does that happen....

    Your picture wall reminds me of a friend who lived in the same house for almost 30 years. She had several thousand pictures up on her wall. Every time someone sent her a photo she'd put it up. It had started in the entry way and over the years snaked through the house covering the hall, and the entire kitchen. When she finally had to move to assisted living, her daughter scanned each and every one of them...quite the feat.

    Thank you for posting again. I've needed you.

    Love to all,
    Marion

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I think I'm choosy about what I do get excited about and plan! haha.

      I can't believe Lily is 10!

      I know...they are both SO tall!

      That's a lot of pictures...but I bet it was so special to look through all of them!

      Marion- I am so thankful for you. I've truly missed you!

      Delete
  2. Great memories, Kathleen! So glad to hear that things are well, and the kiddos are growing to be great humans -- very important!

    ReplyDelete

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