Our last week of summer

Ahhh, summer. It makes me so happy. And tired.

A little snapshot of our last week of summer:

The girls and I went swimming at the YMCA pool. They had a blast and we were able to enjoy it all morning before a ginormous storm came in the afternoon!

On his way to the airport, Mike met us for lunch. We love how he'll squeeze in time with us any chance he can. The girls picked Chick-fila, which of course meant ice cream cones.

One of our summer goals was to do weekly service. And we made it a goal because it brought some accountability and awareness into making it happen. And gosh, I feel like opportunities and moments came - so much of it was small and simple, but those seem to be the ones that I want to hold on to. They are the ones I want woven into the kids minds and hearts.

This last week, our service was centered on letting go. We cleaned out closets, passed down clothes from one sister to the next, and picked up some new items to fill in the gaps for school uniforms this year. Then we took a couple bags of too small clothes and shoes to the recycling bin at the school. It's so cool how choosing to let go can create space for the next chapter and fill needed space in other ways.

I saw lots of this. She loves practicing and I think I hear it any spare moment in the day. Love it!


Tayler is starting up a dual language program at school and to catch her up a bit (the kiddos typically start this in kindergarten so she's jumping in a year later) she's been watching el monosilabo on you tube and having fun with duolingo. Abigail loves being her sidekick.


We headed to the library. I still can't get over how amazingly beautiful it is here. Of course, we were dripping in sweat with this walk over to the fountain, but they were good sports, and knew we were headed to the pool later that day. And I want to remember the heavy library bags and armfuls of books.


Where's Max in all these photos?! This kid soaked in his last week of summer at a basketball camp at the high school. He loved every minute. He was up and ready to go early and walked out every day with a huge smile. It has been so fun to support him in something he loves and to see him develop new skills.


Lots of arts and crafts. Alexis taught the girls how to make turtles out of paper plates. In other news, I may need to start buying scotch tape in bulk. And we have spots of dried sparkly glue all over the floor a week later, but it's all good.


The kiddos wrapped up golf lessons for the summer. This is another place I pinch myself looking around. It's beautiful. And we feel so grateful to experience it. Abigail and I get to hang out under trees like these.


Lots of this around the house. Sometimes they'd choose the most random places to sit and read together. I was in the middle of prepping for dinner and moving onto the next thing when I turned the corner and just smiled. I love listening to her read.


This guy and I went to his open house for 7th (!) grade together. So grateful Mike was able to hang out with the girls while we went. His middle school is ginormous and it would have been brutal taking the girls along with us. And dare I say awkward for the tween? Who knew we'd be entering that chapter!? Anyway, knowing the crazy crowds, we opted to ride our bikes to and from. And loved popping in and out of that place in a jiffy. So excited for him.


We went on one last Saturday afternoon summer family adventure together. I'll write more about it later, but some of the crowd loved the outdoor wall art and some of the crowd, well, didn't.


The kiddos and I went to our favorite museum for our last outing of summer together. And these photos are so much sweeter because we really almost didn't go. It had been a rough morning in the motherhood world - dragging feet, eye rolling, lack of motivation to do much of anything and I almost threw in the towel. But I took a few moments to re-center, prayed for guidance and took some one-on-one time with a couple of the kiddos. In all those conversations, I realized I had a clear choice. I could hold a grudge and be grumpy and angry over actions of others, or I could own the real truth that the actions of others are...actions. This parenting journey is full of crazy learning. As much as we can influence and help them problem solve their own problems, allow space for logical consequences, some days there will be bumps, a whole lotta crazy, and some potential slamming of doors. And sometimes actions are the result of worry/anxiousness/nerves/fear and maybe we just need a big dose of grace. And as we all get to start fresh, learn from mistakes, and keep moving forward, we get to teach that process to our kiddos through living that principle rather than just trying to explain it. And sometimes the action of that principle has a way of influencing others to reframe too.

Having this outing together where we laughed, learned, walked all over the place, had some great conversation and listened to a couple of fun podcasts in the car, made the moments that much sweeter knowing they might not have happened had I/we chosen to stay stuck in frustration or disappointment.

The Frost science/aquarium/I-don't-even-know-what-to-call-it-other-than-amazing museum is incredibly beautiful. These photos are of the fourth floor - which is this amazing outdoor/indoor space with incredible views of Miami, the ocean and the cruise ship port.




We were going to eat at a spot on the main floor, but then Max noticed these picnic tables totally empty. We couldn't think of a better view for peanut butter sandwiches!

Hanging out on the main floor after going through a "poison" exhibit.

Max spotted this tiny portion of a rainbow surrounded by clouds on the drive home. It was as if the rainbow was on the other side of the clouds. Hard to see the colors as well as they were in the sky, but they were so bold and bright. And then surrounded by white clouds and a blue sky. 

And on our last literal day of summer we pulled out the file boxes and added the paperwork that had been sitting in a pile for over a month. These boxes have been such great tools for keeping kiddos papers organized. One folder for each grade - and one box for all the grades. There will definitely be some downsizing in future years, but the process has been so helpful - especially as a way to journal and simplify as we've moved from place to place!

And we kept with our tradition of Mike giving a "Father's Blessing" before the start of school. He gave me one along with the kiddos and while the details are saved for the crew that was there together, I will say this: the feeling of love and light was abundant in the room. I don't remember where I heard this, but one thing I've tried to make a habit of is to take a few moments shortly afterward (relatively - in this instance it was after everyone went to bed) to write down the experience and any thoughts that come to mind. So much wisdom to bottle up.

Love you, summer!