Savoring Every Last Plunge

We have had the most amazing August, one of my favorite months of all time!  The pace has been slower, the weather incredible and we have had so much fun as a family.

One of my favorite summer activities is diving off the dock at the lake.  I do this once a day (no matter the weather) and love the sensation as I plunge into the cool water.  This summer, Z has been jumping from one dock as I dive off the other and we meet at the raft for our daily swim together.  This began on Memorial Day Weekend and we have continued it everyday we have been at the lake since.

I know our daily plunges are slowly coming to an end and I have been savoring each and every one. Last year we stopped our daily plunges in mid-September.  I have a feeling this year will be more of the same.  But for now, I am enjoying every last bit of this amazing summer and will start posting more regularly once our school year officially starts next week.  Enjoy the Weekend!

An Amazing Surprise

This past weekend was my 20 year High School Reunion.  Since the date of the reunion was posted months ago, my dread of the day began.  At first I thought we'd be on vacation but when I realized I was available, I had great guilt about not attending.  The fact is that I am no longer friends with anyone from HS and in my opinion Facebook has made reunions pointless.  The thought of awkward small talk, in an uncomfortable hotel ball room, was not my idea of how I wanted to spend a rare night out with Scott.

As the reunion date got closer, my guilt about not going grew.  Then one day, while hanging out at my friends house, a brilliant idea came to me.  Why not spend the evening with friends who I actually love being with??  What better way to spend my reunion evening than to have a BBQ with one of my favorite families??  Before I knew it one family became three and Scott added his birthday to the celebration.  The theme was 70s, 80s and 90s and was so much fun to plan.  The kids and I created a photo booth, games for the kids, games for the adults and everyone was to come dressed in costume from their favorite of the three decades.

I spent days planning, making an awesome playlist, mix "tapes" for each family, I gathered prizes for the games and decorated the house.  I was a bit panicked about the weather, three families inside was going to be a bit tight, but thankfully the weather cooperated and we had the use of both indoors and out.

Scott was told to have me on the back deck at 5:30 by one of our good friends.  I assumed that their family was coming as the Ghost Busters or Ninja Turtles and needed to make a grand entrance.  Boy was I wrong!

I heard car doors and then heard the sounds of a marching band.  All of sudden all THREE families, dressed as my old CHS Marching Band, came marching through the back yard.  They were led by a drum major and my school mascot, Tidey the Duck, was doing acrobatics around my yard!!  It was an incredible site to see and I was speechless as they each marched by me one by one.  I had played the tuba back in my High School days and one of my friends even made a tuba out of cardboard!!!

The surprises kept coming after that.  They presented me with a CHS T-shirt and made me a fabulous yearbook that had all of the adult friends pictures and funny quotes.  They then brought out a "This is Your Life" jeopardy game that had categories from my HS years.  They even had a birthday crown and cake for Scott and a very thoughtful gift and card for him as well.

For weeks they had been planning, chatting with my family and getting to know each other through this AMAZING surprise.  It was so wonderful and I am very grateful to the three families for putting in so much time and effort into making my "reunion" such a special night!  I had no idea that this little BBQ would turn into something so meaningful.  It was one of my favorite nights of all time and one of the biggest and best surprises that has ever been planned for me.  I am still speechless when I think of all that they did for me.  Love you girls!!

Aren't we something in our 80's ensemble ;)

Catching Our Breath

A Boat Ride in Maine

Back in June, it was my intention to have a nice and easy summer.  I pictured an assortment of laid back days...sipping lemonade on the porch with the kids and running through the sprinkler.  Unfortunately an overwhelming amount of projects, my inability to say "NO" and so many fun invitations....made for the craziest July I can remember.

This is not to say that among the crazy, there weren't moments of R&R...there most definitely were.  The Saturday we had in Maine was the most relaxed I have been in a long time and I have spent many days on my friend Shelly's front porch, talking and relaxing.  But these quiet moments were in the midst of a "go-go schedule" that has left us rundown and craving some downtime.

Today is the first day, ALL MONTH, that we are home.  We are doing our own thing and trying to catch up on all of mess and jobs left undone.  Z is sick with a cold on the couch, C is crafting away and I am catching up on laundry and chores.  It is nice to be home.

I know we have been super busy but we have also had so much fun this month.  We have got to spend a lot of time with family and friends, I made a little money running a summer camp and babysitting my niece and nephew, we ran the BEST EVER Kiki's Garden Sunflower Soiree and we had a few family adventures.  Despite the fun, I am so looking forward to a slower August.  We have white days on the calendar next month and I can't wait to sit back, relax and BREATHE.

Sometime before next summer, I will have to sit down and reread this post to remind myself to not over schedule us like this again.  I would also like to ask my close friends and family to save me from myself and remind me next May/June to not recreate this crazy month.

Pirate Battle at the Kiki's Garden Sunflower Soiree

One CRAZY Family

C and Her Good Buddy with Tinkerbell at the Soiree

Slow summer days are here at last and I am so excited to soak each and everyone up!!  Here are a few more pictures from our July.

Family lunch in RI

Z with his Grandparents in Maine

C and her beautiful Great Grandmother.....She turns 96 today!!

C and Auntie

Silly poses

C taking good care of her cousins on one of our babysitting days

Daddy/Daughter Annual Red Sox Game

Feeling the Love!

This past Sunday was my birthday and I have to say it was one of the best birthdays yet.  A group of my friends started the celebration a week early with a "surprise" girls night to watch the Bachelorette.  My friend Kori and I watch every Monday night in our jammies and last Monday they surprised me with a whole crew!  There was a rose to accept, gluten free cupcakes that they had delivered from 30 minutes away, presents and so much fun.  It meant so much to me that they all surprised me with such a fun night.

The week continued with the most heart felt birthday cards, text messages, phone calls, facebook messages, thoughtful gifts......I am truly blessed to have the friends and family that I do.

The weekend was filled with birthday fun up in Maine at my second parents lake home.  I bought a new skirt at LLBean, my mom made gluten free cupcakes and we had the most AMAZING lobster dinner.  It is my mom's birthday too and I love when we are able to celebrate it together.  It was such a relaxing weekend and we had so much fun with both my parents and my second parents!

Sunday, Scott and I headed off to the Foo Fighters at Fenway Park and for a little getaway away in Boston (Thanks Mom and Dad!).  We met up with our good friends and had an absolute blast at the concert.  Afterwards we hung out at Boston Beer Works and they sang to me with a candle placed in my friend Joe's hand (we were late to the show and so there was no time for more gluten free cupcakes!).

Monday my family celebrated my mother and I with one final celebration.  We had a BBQ, presents and the last of the gluten free cupcakes!

My birthday gift this year was a deck make over and thankfully we finished that in June so we have been able to enjoy it all summer.  It was a gift that I had to work hard for but it is now my favorite spot in my house and I love every minute I get to relax out there.

Thank you all, it was such an amazing birthday and I am so grateful to each and every person who made me feel so special!

Turning Lemons Into Sweet Lemonade

We spent the most wonderful Saturday with friends in order to celebrate a very special little girl's 8th birthday.  The kids played, splashed in the lake, the adults relaxed and the party went well into the night.  Our gracious hosts wined and dined us and we ended the fun day with a bonfire.  There were s'mores fixings and Scott had a game of "Freeze Tag" with the kids.  We left tired and happy as we made the almost hour drive home.

Our Friends let us have a "date" at sunset as they fed all of the kids!!

Upon returning home, we received a late night call.  Apparently I had left my cell phone behind and we wouldn't be seeing these friends again for two weeks.  Scott told them we would figure it all out in the morning.  I was bummed that I had made such a silly blunder but was pretty tired and crawled into bed.

In the morning I decided to make the most of my "Cell Phone Recovery Adventure".  I made sure Scott and the kids had tickets to the new Minion Movie, I stopped for my favorite iced coffee, I put on the music I LIKE and headed out for the peaceful 50 minute drive.  Upon arriving, I spent some time chatting on the porch with our good friends and then took a new scenic drive home.  I stopped to run a few errands on the way home and returned to find my entire lawn mowed!!!  This was the best early birthday gift I could have received, because I was unsure how I was going to fit the time in this week to do this chore.  Not only was the lawn mowed but my house was empty and QUIET (thanks Minion movie!).

So although leaving my cell phone behind last night at first seemed like a major hassle....it ended up being some much needed ME time to recharge.  Thanks to Scott and our good friends for making today so special for me!

A Very Happy 4th of July

My head is still spinning from all that we packed into THREE days.  It was all fun but I am definitely wiped out today.

We had a weekend of chores, a 3rd of July pool party, marched with the CAD organization in a 4th of July parade, had a lobster feast down in RI, went to fireworks, Z and Scott played 9 holes of golf and we ended our weekend with a trip to Maine for some beach time.  

For years I have been saying that I want more photos with my friends.  In one week, I have managed to get 3 photos that I love.  Hoping the streak continues and that by the years end I have a photo of myself with all of my favorite people.

Z planted some MAMMOTH sunflowers in the garden with his Grandpa J.

And I am so glad we fought our fatigue and spent the afternoon/evening at the beach.  There is something about that salt air that is good for the soul.  We had a blast splashing in the waves (Z and I went under), building sandcastles, playing football and frisbee and a big family game of shadow tag.  We ended the evening with pizza....it was the best way to end to a wonderful weekend!