Summer: Part One

My summer, this year, is divided into three distinct parts. We are solidly in the middle part, our vacation to Saskatchewan, but I wanted to write about the first part of the summer, and what it looked like. This is a bit like a "life lately" post, except this all happened the first few weeks of July, so it's not all that "lately."

We hosted four of Rachel's friends for a belated birthday sleepover, followed by a pancake brunch. 

 

Sam and Rachel headed off to a youth sleepover. Poor (or "lucky"?) Rachel had two sleepovers in a row. Phew.

I made strawberry freezer jam with Janice and Rachel and I helped our pastor get ready for Vacation Bible School (VBS).

We headed off to a Blue Jays' game with the kids to (sort of) celebrate our anniversary. So romantic!

We had our summer kickoff "strawberries and ice cream for breakfast" and watched the Blue Jays dominate on Canada Day!

 

We cheered Canada on in World Cup soccer and were so excited about how well they did. 

We checked out a Buttertart Festival with Tim and Janice. 

We sent Sam off to camp for two weeks. 

Rachel volunteered at VBS and started summer school (online) and I walked her back and forth almost every day. I visited with a few friends, and I spent a lot of time reading on the deck.

I also took care of my daylilies (a daily task when they're in bloom) and worked on growing grass (a lot of watering!). 

 

I unpacked more boxes and set up our games shelf. And encouraged Sam to unpack all his Lego cars before he left for camp.

Rachel and I made an Earl Grey Tea Cake with Blueberry Cream Cheese icing for a "cake break" at a cafe in our downtown which was super fun!

 

I got into a new podcast, Acquired, and Dave, Rachel, and I had to make a stop at Starbucks while listening to the episode about Starbucks.

We had lunch on the beach and enjoyed a beach day on Lake Erie.

Dave worked at his company's local office for two weeks while I unpacked boxes in his home office. I made a lot of progress which was so exciting!!!

Lucky Rachel got to start her Saskatchewan vacation a few days before the rest of us! She flew on her own for the first time and did an excellent job!!! And then sent many texts of all the fun she was having there without us :)

Dave and I listened to the Acquired podcast on IKEA as we drove to IKEA to buy some more shelves, and a few other things, for our new spaces. Then we went out for supper and saw the musical "&Juliet" as a more romantic anniversary celebration. I've been singing late 90s/early 2000s music ever since!

We picked up Sam, with a new haircut (!!!), from camp, and got ready for Part Two of our summer: Saskatchewan vacation!!!

 

The first part of our summer was filled with fun, relaxing on the deck, getting things done, catching up with friends, reading some books, and it was just what I needed after finishing a very busy school year.