Though we did most of our celebrating on the weekend prior, it was still fun having a few hot and sunny summer days to celebrate freedom and independence. We enjoyed spending time with several friends, which kicked off Friday afternoon.

David’s best friend from back in college came to visit with his three adorable kids. Our girls love his crew and the opportunity to get to be the big kids. I was so proud of how the immediately went into camp counselor mode, from showing them how to scrape out and use aloe vera to how to build the tallest tower with Magnatiles. They even read them bedtime stories before bed. It tugged at my heart strings and I let myself imagine what life would have looked like with 5 kids for just a brief moment before snapping myself back in line and reminding myself how much I enjoy sleeping through the night 😉

Saturday morning the kids played with the popular refillable water balloons while the adults worked out, then we met up with more friends to go out on the boat. The lake was (unsurprisingly) slammed, so we scooted around until we found a cove to drop anchor and swim around for a while. Afterwards, even more friends joined us back at our house for kayaking, swimming, and grilling out. We lit fireworks once it was dark, and the kids all got a chance to light one. A fun night!

Sunday morning we had a quick turnover, as Jay and his kids headed out and my bestie from college, Christen, arrived with her sweet family. We’ve been getting together on the 4th of July for years, a tradition I cherish. We spent some time at the pool before heading out on the lake, this time in a boat with a slide! We spent the evening sliding, jumping, swimming, and snacking before heading home for a bonfire once the sun was down.

We hugged everyone goodbye Monday morning, then cleaned up, ran some errands, and enjoyed a quiet and cozy evening at home. After a week of day camp and then having a celebratory weekend, we were one tired crew.

On the actual 4th of July, we stayed home, swimming in the lake and playing Dominion (we all love this game, and I recommend it for ages 9+, even though the box says 13+).

Since we don’t know what day of the week it is, we are rolling with it and kicked yesterday off with some wake surfing. We are all improving so much and David claimed the title of first one to actually surf with no rope for a sustainable period of time! In the afternoon we had a new friend of Kaitlyn’s over for a playdate yesterday and I so enjoyed connecting with a new mom friend, too.

Now my gears are shifting to getting ready for our big road trip up to Maine. We are all super excited. We’ll spend a couple days in Boston to break up the trip, and then Newport on the way home.

I also need to get to the store. Meal planning has fallen by the wayside, and since David is focused on increasing his protein, a lot of meals have been super simple- smoking some meat and pulling out whatever veggies are in the fridge.

I definitely feel that we are in the whirlwind phase of summer, and I’m loving it… despite the fact I just bought Christmas garland and pumpkin decor. What can I say, I can’t resist a good online deal for seasonal home decor. I saw a bunch of memes yesterday that were joking about how as soon as it’s July 5, it’s officially Halloween season, much like people joke that the day after Halloween is officially Christmas season. I’m fully invested in summer at the moment but it does remind me how much I enjoy seasonal shifts and that I should lean fully into the season I’m in while I’m in it (ohh… I love a good metaphor for life).

Do you have a favorite season? I tend to say fall, but I really love to get a little taste of them all.