Life Lately – Including July 4th, 2018

Hi, friends!

It’s been pretty quiet over here lately, and I have had conflicting feelings about that. On one hand, I have really been enjoying my family this summer and soaking in the memories. And while doing that, I have taken a step back from the internet. And honestly, it has felt good.

I have given myself deadlines and goals in terms of this little blog, and for the most part, I have stuck with them. But something lately has just pulled me away and I can’t quite put my finger on it.

Maybe it’s just a sign that I have needed a little break to regroup and refocus.

So, while the other part of me has been feeling guilty about it, I think I just need to let that go and move on.

Are you with me?!

So, what have we been up to?! Well, today I am here to fill you in. And I realize this type of post isn’t for everyone, and that’s okay! My feelings aren’t hurt if you skip on by. 🙂

This blog serves two purposes; to share tutorials, recipes, sales, home inspiration, etc. with you, and to serve as a memory book for me.

So, as of the last few weeks, here is what we’ve been up to:

Our kids finished out the school year and a little tradition I love doing is having them wear the same thing on the last day of school as they did on the first day. I just love seeing how they’ve grown and every year it doesn’t fail, this mama gets all choked up and teary-eyed!

A small project we decided to take on soon after school ended was to spruce up our firepit area. Since we moved our outdoor table to the deck, this space was left empty. But, not for long!

We took the white Adirondack chairs and metal side table from our front porch and brought them back here. Then we found two more foldable ones at Ace Hardware for $39.9 each! We then picked up the firepit from Lowes and put it all together.

The kiddos completed two weeks of swim lessons and made huge strides, and enjoyed some downtime with each other as well.

Our sweet Cal took a spill in the driveway resulting in this, but I was SO proud of him for how he handled it. Yes, there were tears, but not many and he rocked the tough look for a little under two weeks before healing up.

We spent days on the lake with friends…

And our girl, Gwyn, received a special award at her end-of-the-year soccer party, which had us all beaming.

Every year during the last week in June, Spokane holds the largest 3-on-3 basketball tournament in the world, and our kiddos both played in it this year. Gwyn’s team did quite well and made it to the semi-finals and battled hard until the end.

And Cal played with his cousins, as his dad did only a handful of years ago, and had an absolute blast.

Sprinkle in a few sports and church camps as well as more swimming with friends in here as well, and our kiddos have been wiped!

After Hoopfest we drove straight to one of our absolute favorite spots; Twin Lakes. I have gone here for the fourth of July every year for the past 13 years with my husband’s family, and our kiddos have known nothing else for this holiday and we all absolutely love it.

This guy is the fisherman of our group and will wait patiently with a pole in the water until he’s caught a fish. Now, if only he had this kind of patience all the time.. 🙂

He was also quite the kayaker, able to maneuver all around the lake (within the boundaries set) and even paddle his little cousin and brother around.

And this little guy. Obsessed with the water. I think he stayed in the water about 90% of the time.

And this fearless girl rocked water skiing and just dominated all water sports.

The kids all received headlamps from their aunt and uncle and Franklin especially liked his and wore it often. I think it went well with his hair. 🙂

Our favorite way to spend the 4th

Homemade ice cream lover.

The campground we go to has an annual parade that our littles enjoy and they ended up with so much candy that we needed gallon Ziplocks for each kid to house it all.

Spooky stories around the campfire

 

While this is just a glimpse into the last few weeks, it does jog some heart-warming memories for me and I am glad to have them all documented. Thank you for sticking around to enjoy it with me!

My husband and I are currently working on a fun little project for our front porch; stay tuned!