Monthly Musings: Late Summer Fashion And Fun

This summer, for us, is all about holding joy in one hand while holding heavy stuff in the other one (see my last paragraph below), so I'm happy to be linking up with with Holly at Pink Lady and Patty at Good, Better, Best for their "Monthly Musings." I need to remember some of the fun which summer has held so far.

 1) Summer travel -- where have you been and what trips are still coming up?

We just got home from an almost two week road trip to Pennsylvania, New York, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Maine, and Vermont. We saw a bunch of baseball games (including one at Fenway Park!), we had fun in the ocean and in the mountains in New Hampshire, and we ate lobster in Maine. Road trips are not always easy but we made a lot of great memories!!!

Fenway Park 

Disc golfing in the mountains in New Hampshire

In the ocean in New Hampshire and eating lobster in Maine

 

Next up -- the kids are going to camp and Dave and I are travelling just the two of us!!!

2) Favourite things you have done so far this summer?

Two of my favourite things we did on our trip were going to a baseball game in Phillie with Emily and her family and doing a working lobster boat tour in Maine. We got to bait traps, push them overboard, band the lobsters, and so much more.

3) Share your go-to outfits this summer.

 A trip to the States is never complete without a trip to Target and I picked up the navy and white t-shirt below. I am also loving my distressed denim shorts and my red Toms. This is a pretty typical summer outfit for me. To give you a hint of my and Dave's upcoming trip, I will mostly be wearing t-shirts, capris, and hiking shoes!!!

4) Summer accessories you are never without?

I used to wear a lot of necklaces in the summer but the past few years I've moved away from them. I don't really have summer accessories right now.

5) Share your go-to shoes this summer.

I've been wearing my red Toms a lot, I've been wearing my hiking shoes, and other than that, I've been wearing my Sketchers.

6) Share anything spontaneous you did this summer. Big or small.

We had planned to spend a whole day in Boston on our road trip but, two days before that day, we changed our plans. There were a few reasons for that -- we needed a down day, the parking in Boston is insane, and it would have meant navigating Boston traffic with our car. Sometime, when we can take a train to Boston from New York City, we will plan to spend more time in the city. So we had to pivot and figure out what to do with a whole day in New Hampshire. Rachel has wanted to go horseback riding for a few years now and it turned out we were staying not far from some stables so...

...we spent an hour on horses. Sam didn't want to go so he stayed back. Dave and Rachel enjoyed their first time horseback riding!!! Then we went to the ocean and had a great afternoon!

On the way home, we stayed with my cousins in Ottawa. My cousin, Rob, spends a lot of Saturdays in summer racing his car and he invited us to come watch. And then, he invited us to join him for a race! So I strapped on my helmet and jumped in the passenger seat! It was super fun and not something I ever expected to do. And I would absolutely go again! Dave and I each had a turn and then we had to hit the road to head home or we would have stayed for a few more rides.

7) Have you seen any summer movies this year?

No, but we did watch the Home Run Derby -- does that count?!?!?!? We were so excited that Teoscar Hernandez (a former Blue Jay) won!!!

8) Favourite summer sweet treat?

Ice cream! I had some really good, really melty, ice cream in Maine last week! 

9) Summer slow down or ready for fall?

We didn't plan this summer very well. We just got back from a two week trip and we're getting ready to head out on another trip. I am looking forward to being home for a stretch of time after that before I have to go back to work, so I need summer to slow down. Although honestly, I had a momentary wish for cool enough weather to wear a sweatshirt and rake leaves the other day so take that for what it's worth :) 

10) Ready for back to school if you have kids in school?

Not at all! We've only been out for four weeks as of today and have five and a half weeks still before school starts. While Rachel did mention "back to school" shoes the other day, I buried my head in the (metaphorical) sand! Our focus this week has been getting the kids ready for camp and I'm not even ready for that!

Can I be honest with you for a moment here? This summer has also been hard. While there has been a lot of fun (with more to come), the death of our pastor and friend, has been so very hard. Their memorial is this coming weekend and I am still in disbelief, while simultaneously helping to prepare food to feed their family in between visitations. And then a couple of days ago we found out that a very good family friend of Dave's family died suddenly. So while I will continue blogging, please know that we could use your thoughts and prayers for the two families we know who are grieving unexpected losses. Thank you.

Deep Grief

We are currently in the midst of a two week road trip and I'm waking up this morning in New Hampshire. While I have many stories to tell from this vacation, I am posting today only to ask for your prayers.

As we were driving to Fenway Park to see a baseball game on Saturday I checked my email and saw the news that one of our pastors died unexpectedly early Saturday morning. I am not going to share many details on the blog but this pastor was only a few years older than Dave and their kids are Sam and Rachel's ages so this is hitting us all very hard.

We have not only lost a pastor but also a friend, and for Sam and Rachel, the parent of their friends. We are in shock and disbelief and yet, we're also very far from home and ending our vacation now would not serve any purpose. So we are continuing to explore new places and be together as a family, while trying to process this devastating loss.

If you could pray for our pastor's family -- their spouse and children, for our church, and for our family, we desperately need them right now. This loss will be felt for a very, very, very long time.

Currently: July 2024

Even though it's not the first Wednesday of the month, I am going to link up with Jennifer at Overflowing With Thankfulness for her "Currently" post a few days late. You can find Jennifer here. Just as the school year was ending, I got hit with a cold. Yep, two weeks after I had just gotten over Covid. Blah. So my summer has started off with more coughing, sinus pain, and Kleenexes than I was anticipating. And less blogging. I have just been starting to feel better the past couple of days -- just in time to celebrate Rachel's birthday (a little belatedly) as you will see below. So without further adieu, here is my July "currently" post.

 

random picture of us enjoying kicking off summer break

[loving]

 I am "loving" being on summer break. I have gotten together with friends, I have read more, I have gotten a few things done at home, I've spent more time just relaxing -- except for my cold, it's been really great! I really do love not having to wake up to an alarm at 5:30am every day.

I had to do errands with the kids the other day and they took about 100 selfies on my phone. Here are just two of them. Hahaha! Teenagers. 

[looking forward to]

 Well, we leave on our family vacation tonight (!!!) so I am really "looking forward to" that. This past weekend we nailed down a few more plans and I'm really excited to just get going and have fun! You can follow me on Instagram but I'm hoping to be blogging while we're away too. A few nights we're staying with friends or family, but a few nights we'll be in a hotel so I'll hopefully have some time to fill you in on what's happening :)

[savouring]

 As they bloom, I am "savouring" the lilies I planted. Every time a new colour opens up, I text a picture to my parents. This is so exciting and I'm glad that all the ones which were going to bloom did so before we left on our trip. I am so excited about these lilies!!!

[celebrating]

 We had a great time "celebrating" Rachel's 13th birthday with a sleepover party. All her friends were able to come and it was so fun to see Rachel with them. This is a new friend group for her this year so Dave and I don't really know them but they seem like a good (if noisy!) group of kids! They played games, did face masks and nails, watched a movie, ate a ton of food, and had a great time.

And because I want to remember how completely amazing her cupcakes were, here's a picture of just them:

 

We ordered them from a local bakery and they did an awesome job! Rachel and I were both thrilled!

[remembering]

I hope I'm "remembering" to pack everything we need for our trip! I have lists on top of lists on top of lists right now.

So that's what's up with us "currently." Mentally, I am half thinking about the things I want to accomplish at home this summer, but the other half of me is getting ready to head out for a bit. Clearly there needs to be two of me to do all the things! Hahaha!!!