We had a lovely low key and adventurous summer. I took the kids to do so many fun things together - which was new for me. We are in a new era, no longer having babies or dealing with pregnancies. It's been almost a decade of building our family. My youngest turned two and can keep up with the big kids now. It is a big step in to a new season of my life.
I loved getting to know my kids in new ways this summer. My big kids are so conversational and fun to be around. I was surprised they didn't play outside in our yard as much as they have in year's past. But they were knee deep in what they called "Lego World" which was so sweet to watch them play. They would build together and pretend making up all sorts of scenarios. They entertained each other day after day and it was so special for me to be able to sit back and watch.
Our baby girl slept in and was totally content to roll around in her crib into the late morning. So we let her have her chill time, knowing it would all come to an end once school started. So there were plenty of slow mornings which I so appreciated.
I kept thinking to myself, oh once summer is here, I will have time to work on my little projects. And then I don't! Of course, I get a few things done here and there. But truthfully, I just keep learning to let go more and more each year. Each year my kids get another year older and the realization of how quickly they are growing up becauses more apparent. So instead of stressing out about my to do list I have traded it for major emotions that each day and season slips by so quickly. I better enjoy it.
So this summer - that is what I did - I enjoyed it.
Around Memorial Day we start to scatter our American flags around the house plants. It is always such a fun and simple nod to summer.
This was the first summer that we got to use our picnic table (that everyone made for my birthday last year) for the entire season. It was wonderful.
I must have more energy these days because my table settings are becoming more pretty (or like how I used to do things pre-kids). It is refreshing to my creative spirit.
All the camping vibes right in our backyard.
I continued my bike routine throughout the summer. Instead of doing two short workouts (one in the morning and one at naptime) I did one longer workout in the morning since we didn't have to be anywhere. It freed up naptime for myself which was nice. And I got some wrist/ankle weights to add just a little extra resistance.
Lots of splashpad time, kiddie pools, and popsicles!
I shared in my spring post that we had to get a new splashpad because this adorable one did not last more than a month. These pictures were before I knew the truth and I was still reveling in it's beauty!!
Bubbles also help everything feel a little more magical.
My elementary school kids were still in school until almost the end of June so we had a few little kid summer play opportunities. The simplicity of setting up the water table and lounging on the patio is pure bliss.
I also shared in my spring post that I have been hacking my bags to make them into purses that work for me. This little Kate Spade pouch I got as a souvenier from New York City I have never used. I used an o ring and a chain to make it into a crossbody. I love it!
A pollinator event we went to at a local farm. The cutest little bees I have ever seen.
Some more pictures from Mother's Day at Flower World.
On 4th of July we got more flags out to play with and take with us to the 4th of July parade.
Racing with a flag attached is apparently very fun!
This little pool/ball pit has come in handy for our sensory bins. We got it for our daughter's first birthday party and I finally found a practical use for it!
Picnics on the porch are always a delight.
Stenciling fun!
We had extra flagstone from the path we put in our front garden. So I have been working on using up what we have by creating little paths around our yard.
I also did a lot of transplanting this summer. I redid our garden by the front steps and transplanted the old plants around the yard. It is slowly all coming together.
Our four year old is acting more like the older kids each day. Perhaps it is because he is an older kid now! I just can't get over it. He still feels like my baby.
A major steal on rhodendendrons that already bloomed. I grabbed as much as I thought could fit into my car!
That's me - just the crazy lady with small children trying to pile in giant plants wherever I could!
Good thing the drive home wasn't far!
Off to walk to the bus stop with my weighted vest. This has been a great way for me to step up our daily walks to pick up the kids.
Looking so cute in her socks and bow.
For Father's Day we made some crafts for Brent and the grandpas. Hand print from the littlest one.
And some silly grandpa photos with questions for the kids to answer. They always have such sweet and funny comments!
I even got to sit and read my Kindle a couple of times while the kids played happily in the yard.
I love these simple days at home with my littles.
After I caught my clothes on a cabinet pull and broke it, we decided it was time to just update our kitchen hardware! We had long pulls that constantly got caught on my clothes so switching to someting that didn't have edges sticking out was the goal! I am so happy with the gold. It matches the accents on our dishwahser and happily mixes with our stainless steel appliances. It was a long awaited update that made me very happy! We got these knobs and these handles.
A little garden bouquet for my daughter's kindergarten musical performance. She thought it was really special that I brought her flowers.
My mosaic stepping stone is holding up well. We decided to add our painted rock collection to the mix and it is such a happy corner of our garden.
Moving things around the garden and creating little seating areas made for a cute moment.
I added some new roses to our one sunny spot in the back.
We had incredible roses in our yard when we lived in Sacramento. My hope is to get this spot growing better so I can have my own little rose garden again.
I stole the benches from this table to put in the yard and added in these black chairs instead. Just my own reminder to mix and match and make things work for our specific home.
The kids ate a lot of lunches out here this summer. It was nice to send them all outside to be silly and loud while I hid inside for a moment. It never lasted long because it was so sweet that I had to go out and join them.
Father's Day treats for Brent. I fill his little candy tackle box every holiday now and he always loves it. What an EASY and fun way to make him feel special.
This year I went for a whole weekend celebration. Brent is so simple and just wants to relax at home. So I bought or made some of our favorite treats and snacks. For Father's Day morning we had a bagel and muffin spread.
I made his favorite ice cream cake that I usually only make for his birthday. I figured twice a year wasn't that much extra work. Here it is before it was frosted. Love all those yummy layers.
Soccer Saturdays. We love our giant blanket and would pack the kids with their restaurant backpacks.
Sweet girl wanted to show off her dollhouse display. The ikea dollhouse makeover and cute dollhouse furniture set have proven to be a well loved toy.
Father's Day movie and McDonald's - Brent's request!
It is always so sweet to see them help him open his gifts.
My whole heart.
The finshed ice cream cake!
Kindergarten picnic at school - yes, we are the fun parents who brought our kid McDonald's!
There's that blanket again! :)
This kid ran one hundred miles this year at school! We were so impressed!
Kindergarten picnic selfie. It was also jersey day at school - girl in mama's dirt biking jersey!
A pretty light moment that stopped me in my tracks. We are hoping to finish our kitchen remodel over Christmas break. Even in the midst of the unfinished, having this open wall and extra lighting has added so much to our living space. I am so grateful.
The laudry room was so tidy for once! I had to take a picture.
We brought back our after nap/quiet time tea time. Such a fun little tradition.
Flowers for teachers on the last day of school.
We got our summer reading program check off lists from the library. They get very into it and try to finish it as fast as they can.
And a fun library event to kick it all off.
Amazing roses in my friend's yard.
Pizza picnic at the playground. Love these sunny days.
My go to gift for preschool through early elementary school are these sticker by letter or number books. I love a practical but fun gift.
Every week when we would go pick up our groceries we would hit up a different and often new park to us. This castle one was especially fun.
Summer art display.
A pretty dinner hosted by my MomCo coordinator.
Found a really great lightweight blazer.
We enjoyed Tipsy Cow for lunch afterwards!
My four year old decided to pick my one lone peace lily for me! I had waited years for it to bloom again. So we at least had to preserve it in a vase as long as it would stay alive!
Patriotic walk - someone must have wanted to bring a flag with us!
Capturing proof of a quiet moment to myself. Love my new Kindle I got for Mother's Day.
The cutest little handmade sail boats.
Helping the littles check off their summer reading lists! How cute it was to see them reading to their siblings!
Watching bread rise in the bread maker.
Her and her flowers after her school performance.
This romper and that bow!
7-11 free slurpee day is a much anticipated event in our house!
A sunny outing downtown.
Our oldest got a chess/checkers set for his birthday. It has been a big hit. I have been suprised how well they have been playing this together.
A yummy drink in the midst of summer chaos - toys everywhere!
These slow days of summer are the best.
Our new splash pad! Right out of the box I could tell it was made of much thicker material. It lasted us the rest of the summer. I was very happy with it and it was the best I could find that was aesthetically pleasing enough for me!
Another fun birthday gift was this table tennis set that we put on our outdoor table. It has been an especially fun game that I can play with my oldest. We may have quite a few ping pong balls stuck in our gutters though!
Setting up a flower shop!
Grandma always brings lots of flowers from her flower shop when she comes to visit.
We went to a fun kid's event at Lowe's. How funny is this bucket photo op!? Too hillarious!
Video game pals. They get to play the Wii when grandma and grandpa come to visit and Brent and I leave for a date or night away.
Yummy boba at the mall. My first time trying Happy Lemon and it was tasty.
We hit up the mall to try to find a dress for my sister in law's wedding. We didn't have much luck but it was a fun day date.
Had the most incredible nachos at Castilla in Downtown Bellevue.
And then I settled on this dress I found at TJ-Maxx instead. A good reminder to stick to what has always worked.
Lunch salad game going strong. I love me some hard boiled egg.
Another playground grocery outing.
We rode the link from Redmond to Bellevue to do some errands. This was their first time on the lightrail since it opened and they were quite ecstatic.
Little miss was nervous. I didn't mind the cuddles.
This new Shake Shack is so pretty and so convenient for our family. Our new go to in Bellevue.
Hard to believe I didn't like Shake Shack the first time I tried it on the east coast. It grew on me and is a favorite now.
I love pretending we our city people!
My favorite summer blooms.
Brent found us a free basketball hoop. I played basketball growing up so this has been especially fun for me as well.
Cardboard car creation.
Pulled out my Christmas/winter wreath for a short flag moment.
Making our favorite smores ice cream sandwiches.
More work transplanting things in the yard. I moved some of our big evergreen plants to our front walkway to make it feel more full and green all year long.
A fun 4th of July breakfast!
I love these simple bento boxes that I use for when I pack us lunches on the go. I got the genius idea to put the kids' name labels on each one so I would know whose is whose (these labels I put on everything and they are machine washable so you can stick them on the inside of clothes!). Because when you are dealing with crust, no crust, no crust big square, no crust small squares...knowing what box belongs to each child is so helpful! ;)
More salad chronicles.
On the 4th of July we attended a fun local firehouse breakfast and 4th of July parade.
Soaking up that she will sit in my lap during the parade still. She is quickly turning into one of the big kids so I enjoy every one of these baby moments I have left.
I cry about everything these days. But seeing my kids wave at parades always makes me tear up. Something about seeing them experience something so magical (a real fire firefighter and a real fire truck so close up!) is so tender and sweet.
Our little wagon came in handy!
Our 4th of July meal on the back patio.
My blue stripped runner continues to be the centerpiece of all our festive meals.
Our s'mores ice cream sandwiches for dessert.
A pretty garden moment.
A weekend ice cream treat at our favorite Snoqualmie Ice Cream.
Garden hydrangaes on display.
Family bike ride!
Everyone ready for their first day of VBS! I can't believe all three got to go this year. Growing up quickly!
While they were busy all week, me and my little hit up the thrift store. Look at this shoe spread I got! Nike, Adidas, Natives...oh my!
I started folding under my tank tops to make them more crop and it is now my go to with atleisure. I love that I made tops I already have work for the current trend. Also a blazer with leggings. Yes, please. This whole mix of casual and dressed up is comfortable and fun. I also pulled out a very old crossbody bag that I thought I got rid of. We are down to one diaper and a small bags of wipes in my purse. Such freedom to carry such a small bag!
I couldn't pass on these clearance hydrangaes. They were at their peak bloom but I planned to plant them in the ground for many more years of beauty to come.
For now they were on display in my seasonal pots on the front patio. They still looked amazing all the way to Halloween. I definitely got my money's worth and beyond!
I printed a polaroid of my sister in law and her fiance for her bridal shower card. It came out so cute and she loved it. Proof that you can buy a jumbo box of floral cards and use them for anything.
This little miss telling me all about it. She cracks us up. I love this age.
A fun summer themed treat - brownie bites, frosting, blue sprinkles, peach rings, and teddy grahams. Everyone LOVED them.
Having salads all summer really upped my salad game. I love strawberry and avocado combo.
I caught up on everyone's baby books. I officially have two completed (all the way up to their first day of school! Cue the tears). Two more to go.
I always set up my ironing board as a working station so I can keep it out but it is too high for little hands.
I love my Vitamix and have been using it daily for over a decade. We upgraded to the stainless steel container after our plastic container was having issues. Vitamix always has such great customer service and gave us a discount code for it.
We transistioned our kids to boys and girls shared room at the end of the summer before school started. Which meant no more nursery! I can't believe we are finally here. We gave my in laws the love seat that we had used and that I nursed three of our babies on. It was sad to see it go but exciting for this next chapter. I took a picture of our gallery wall so I would remember where everything went as we had to take it all down to get the couch downstairs.
These two were so cute playing together during quiet time.
Anther summer time treat - for movie night! This silicone cupcake pan I recently got for snacks and crafts and is just too cute.
Everyone got to make their own festive bowl of popcorn.
Matching jammy dresses! We love these simple pajama dresses so much. So sweet to see our littlest wear her big sister's old clothes.
Them - enjoying our extra love seat while it waited to be delivered to my in law's in a few days. Me - letting go of any sadness after all the climbing, jumping, and fighting over this thing. I was ready to get it out of the house!
I found an incredible recipe for some easy slow cooker chicken that I am using on my salads lately. Salad game changer. I will share the recipe soon.
Practicing our hair for the wedding!
So handsome!
Summer patio life - the double umbrellas feel so fancy.
After nap tea time - we did this last summer and I decided it would continue on as a summer tradition. After everyone comes out of nap or quiet time we enjoy a special drink and treat together. We talk and try to act polite. It is a cute and special time. Sparkling lemonade and cookies was a consistent favorite.
Brent put on a big event at work this summer and it made it to the front page of The Seattle Times! I was so proud. And we were even able to attend the event together. A special memory for me and the kids to be a part of Brent's work. The next mission to the moon is coming next year and we are very excited to be a part of this.
Trying to be sneaky with the camera to catch this sweet moment.
My sweet neighbor brought us a pie from my favorite Snohomish Pie Co! It was apple berry crumb and is now my all time favorite. I had a little slice every day during nap! ;)
Looking for worms under the stepping stones. It drives me crazy when I see these all overturned but I try to remind myself these are core childhood memories.
One of my favorite places - the waterfront in Downtown Kirkland. We came here almost weekly during the pandemic. I try to at least get here once now each summer. So many special memories when I just had the two.
Our church hosted a foam party for the kids! It was epic!!!
McDonald's ice cream cone on the way home. Those are some happy kids!
More mommy adventure day outings - this time to a fun park that has walking paths over the water.
Wild berry picking is a very popular activity where we live! They grow all over the place. It is pretty funny to see adults standing on the side of the road eating berries!
I have been working on figuring out how to cozy up our bedroom more. This beautiful blanket to throw over the top was the final ingredient to my put together bed. I love it!
Packing their bags for back to school. I just order everything online and let them pick out their colors. Then when we have a moment it is fun to leisurely have them look through it all and pack up their backpacks. Another one of those emotional turning points for me!
Our final mommy adventure day - I laid you their swimsuits and water shoes. They were so excited! "Where are we going!!!???"
I was in the market for some new cutting boards. After much thought I decided to try out some stainless steel ones. I have a few wood ones but I don't like that I can't put them in the dishwasher. I didn't want plastic or glass. And there are so many trendy anti-plastic things out there that are great but I wanted something that I knew would last the test of time. I am finding stainless steel is my new go to and months later I can confidently say that I love these. The edges aren't sharp (my one concern from reading some of the reviews). And I found that wiping up my mess that spills off the board isn't really that big of a deal.
We took the kids to the skate park with their bikes and scooters. They had the best time and I was a nervous wreck! This is one of those outings where Brent is in charge and I nervously watch and take pictures from afar! No one got hurt and they all had a great time.
Another bike outing - always a spectacle and taking up the whole pathway!
My rose of sharon bush, that I thought was a tree, is thriving quite well after I cut it back. A beautiful late summer bloom.
This girl is too cute! She loves all the girly things thanks to her fun big sister.
Last day of summer ice cream treat! I can't believe that flew by.
Then we caught a hot air balloon landing while driving through Downtown Woodinville! What a sight!
It landed in the soccer field! So funny to see people on foot and in their cars trying to chase it!
A surprise tea time upstairs. I felt like I was delivering room service!
They loved the surprise!
When they all want a cart at Trader Joe's. Shoppers either think we are adorable or they hate me.
Last playground and grocery run day to a favorite park with a cardboard hill to slide down.
This summer was a treasure. I am so grateful for these long and open days together.
To a new season with it's own joys. But summer, you will forever hold a special place in my heart.
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