Lakeside Picnic.

It's been a weekend staple for us - riding around our little town on the golf cart (there is more golf cart road mileage here than actual street mileage), and finding parks to picnic in. With Stevie switching job positions last month, he is gone a lot more these days, so the weekends have become even more precious to us. These boys love time with their Daddy, and I am struck by just how important he is to them. To all of us!

We have an ongoing joke, me and Stevie. We've had several occasions in our life together where we are walking down a pier, walking down a beach, or in this case, having a family picnic... and random people just invite Stevie onto their boat. It's happened more times than I can count. On this particular day, we decided to picnic near the local lake and someone was getting ready to load a boat onto their truck. Stevie said to me, "I'm not sure he can do this by himself, I'm gonna go see if he needs some help." Well what to you know, of course the guy invited Stevie for a ride on his ski boat. So what did we do? Loaded up our humans and went on a quick lap around the lake! I know what you're thinking - why would you go out on a boat with a stranger?? It's a super safe area and we know people who live in the neighborhood (plus there were other people in close proximity out on their boats), so we felt good about it. Our boys loved it! It was all of 10 minutes and then we were back in the grass, eating cherries and pickle potato chips and watching the birds flock over the water.

I love when spontaneous things like this happen - it's one of the reasons I loved living in NYC. There was always something unexpected happening, always impromptu musicians on the corner or people waiting in a long line for a hot treat or some amazing exhibit showing at one of the zillion museums. I remember riding on the subway and realizing that the gal sitting in front of me was a famous actress. I just love that crazy city. I miss it terribly, although I am glad I'm not raising my kids there. Luckypalmtree sent us a few goodies from the new NYC collection and I thought, "This is my chance to match my boys while they still think it's cool." I know that the time is coming when Everett will realize this is a very dorky thing, to match Mommy, so I'm gonna milk it while I still can. He shares my love for New York, and begs to read books about the city all the time. Our favorites are A Walk in New York and In New York, he especially loves all the buses and tall buildings. He wants to ice skate at Rockefeller Center, because that is a page from one of the books :) Anyway, all this NYC talk has me itching to take another trip before summer ends - school starts in a month for this little boy and I want to soak up all the summer fun before routine strikes again! Although I admit, a little routine will be nice. If only I can get Daxton to agree to one, AKA not waking me up 3x a night.

Happy Tuesday, everyone! xx
 

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Missing in Action

I have been MIA. With good reason.

Recap: Finished Spring Semester. It was kickin'. Celebrated Mother's Day. Those women deserve it. I did a Maymester. While working full-time. That hurt a bit. Lauren Ramsey, my dearest school buddy, you made those two tedious weeks possible. Along with string cheese. I forgot that back in my lunch box days, I really dug some good string cheese action. I went to the beach with my family. God shone down upon me during those glorious days, and I let his dear, bright sun soak into my soul. And my skin. I have the sun poisoning to prove it.

While at the beach, I read "Water for Elephants." It's the first book I've ever read that is starring Reese Witherspoon. It was somber and great all at once. Praise the lord. Vacation is delicious. And now I want to go see the movie.

A few more photos that encapsulate some good Serenbe-family time. We have celebrated my mom there every year. (We were practicing our fake smiles, can you tell?)

Most recently, I spent the past two days with my intern buddies. We conquered the Camp Winshape ropes course up at Berry College in Rome, Ga. It was awesome, and much harder than I had anticipated. I climbed a 45-foot rock wall. I was reminded about how much heights really flip me out. But it was still awesome. And this crew of interns that Chick-fil-A has compiled are all seriously sharp individuals. Vanessa Vogel, I am so flipping excited to spend the summer with you! We are going to have a cow-mooing-blast.

Now that I am past all of this past month's busyness, I am back to the realization that I am moving. Soon.  And I have to get myself organized accordingly. Which means I actually have to start going through my stuff and PURGING. Which means we have to commit to an apartment up north. Which means that I need to have a garage sale this month. And I need to craigslist my bigger items. It's happening people. It's happening.