June: Reuniting and Love

We are quickly nearing the end of summer 2015. For our kiddos, summer is a very quick 7ish weeks.
I'm usually OK with it knowing we have 2 weeks off in October and again in March. This summer was very fast. We need more time! More time for sleeping in, more time for camps, more time for excursions, more time for afternoon reading and more time for no homework.

We took our camper for a trial run and loved it. Well, I loved it. J and I have decided I am the camper in the family, he is just the Support System. The Support System does a lot of work so we can all enjoy it. I love the opportunity to sit and relax, read and watch the kiddos explore. I prep for days before we go and breath a big sigh of relief as soon as we hit the road. On the other hand, the Support System works the entire time we're camping- the camper need his attention, the fire needs his tending and the kids want every single moment of his time.  Thankful the kids enjoy camping because that makes it worth all the hard work.

The boys have had a lot of opportunity to spend with friends...

and family...especially at Camp Nana. She even scored an extra kiddo on this particular day.

We had time with friends AND family.

KK doesn't make many appearances on my blog anymore. (Who am I kidding? No one does at the rate I'm posting.) It's intentional that she not be as present as before. She's of an age that demands privacy and respect. And let's face it, teenagers don't say cute things that need to be recorded nor do they eagerly participate in art projects or "allow" me to catch a smile without permission. However, when she takes 10 pictures of she and her brother on my phone, I have full permission to post.

While we "made" KK take three weeks of summer school for torture review, the boys were enriched with camps. B loved Lego Camp with his cousins. This was he and Jude's creation one day. Every day of camp, he mentioned a giveaway that peaked his curiosity greatly. So much so, that during bedtime prayers he asked for Divine Intervention in getting his name picked. Guess who's name was drawn on the last day? Yep.

Summer weather in AZ sucks. I'm not gentle in stating my opinion on that. However, monsoon season sometimes gifts us with rain and cooler temperatures. One morning in particular, B and I sat outside sipping tea while enjoying the rain. My kids love rain as much as I do. They have no choice.

June 5 was National Doughnut Day. While I was in the tail end of completing a Whole30, my family was not. Best friends show up unannounced with a dozen doughnuts and share them with those who are not participating in Whole 30. Lucky ducks!

I had reflexology done on my entire body. Lord, have mercy. I loved it despite the bruises left on my legs. What an experience. Not sure I'll return, I may have been scared and scarred.

That same rainy morning that B and I enjoyed so much ended quite beautifully. Double rainbows are double smiles from God.

The kids take full advantage of friends with pools. They ain't stupid.

We were so excited to have babies in our house one evening. Friends of ours joined us for a casual dinner followed of hours of chase, cuddles and baby feet.

The boys participated in several camps; basketball, science, soccer and art. However, hands down, their favorite camp was cupcake decorating. Chef Cody taught the class which was fun for the boys to see him in person. He did a great job encouraging the kids. Chef Cody can not only cook, he can teach.

In pure madness, we supported C in his baseball tournament that took place in 117 degree weather. Crazy, on many accounts. Is it wrong to admit I felt joy when they lost and didn't need to proceed to day 3?

While I went away with girlfriends for Mother's Day weekend, my mom was gallivanting around London with a friend of hers. This meant that we were to celebrate in June, which we did one evening with dinner and a dance performance. We saw cutie Derek Hough and his gorgeous sister, Julianne's, show. It was a fun evening for us girls that ended at 1 a.m. after geeking out because we were able to meet them and take pictures with them.

Before heading out of town for a few weeks, we needed a night out with friends-sans kiddos-plus cocktails.

Every two years my family gathers for a family reunion. Typically we meet in the Midwest as a majority of our family resides there. Also it feels like "going home" when we're in the Midwest. A few years ago the reunion was in Arizona...in summer...yep... and our family forgave us! This summers location was San Diego. For some family members, it was the first time they'd seen the ocean. California was great as some family lives in the Bay area, the attractions are plentiful and the beach, well, the beach is relaxing. "My generation" was in charge of the details this year. I think it stressed out the "other generation." It ended up being a great week, topped off with the exciting wedding of my aunt.

Our youngest family member traveled all the way from Illinois. Cole was so excited to meet her and mentioned several times during the week that he couldn't wait to hold her. (I made him take a babysitting/CPR camp this summer, told him it was would be helpful in the future) Look how relaxed and confident he looks holding her, it's like he took a babysitting class. Every chance he had to hold her, he took full advantage of.

We were so excited when we heard news of the newest family member being a girl because we've got a plethora of boys in the group. An entire gaggle of them.

 
One of the best parts of the week together was cousin time for "our generation." As cousins, we are all close and always enjoy our time together- although there is never enough time. There are as many tears shed at good-byes as laughter during the week. Every morning, we would meet for coffee on the board walk. Every evening, we found ourselves on the patio with Oreos and cocktails.

Almost the entire family was present for the reunion. We greatly missed an aunt and uncle and cousin. We always take a cousin picture but this year it didn't happen. This was the best we could do at the time of the actual reunion. I love everyone in this picture but man, we're starting to look like our parents. Jan Jr., Patti Jr., Carol Jr., Ken Jr and the list goes on.

Check our the curls on these cuties! Beach hair at it's best.

We took several group pictures and this was hands down the BEST. I love everybodies expression! As we were having this picture taken, pigeons were attacking our food tables 50 feet away. Forget the formal picture, this picture is golden. It doesn't get better than this.

Actually, it did get better! Another late night/early morning of Cousin Chat. Sort of like Coffee Talk but not.

All the women in my family gathered for an early evening happy hour honoring our favorite Aunt Jan and her beloved fiance, Don. Lots of love in that group.

And then we ended the week together at my aunt's wedding. Their love story is beautiful in itself and the wedding was a great reflection of that. It was truly a celebration of uniting two families-families who have been a part of our lives for many years.

The wedding location overlooked the ocean and appropriately ended with fire works (thanks Seaworld!). As wonderful as the evening was, it ended with good-byes to family members, a few tears and tight hugs between cousins.

As my side of the family boarded planes and packed up cars, we welcomed the arrival of J's family for week 2 of our beach stay. After a week on the beach, it was a beautiful afternoon to join Padre fans as we cheered on our Diamondbacks. We took home the win, which made C's day. That and the fact we were off to the beach for another couple weeks of fun to finish out June.

Cheers to June, long blog posts with 1,000 pictures and the last days of summer.