A lot of people here in the South consider Memorial Day to be the official start of summer and Labor Day to be the official end of summer. Our summer has been a busy one, but a good one.

In May, my kiddos got out of school. They finished their first grade and sixth grade years.

I took my students on our first field trip in three years (due to Covid) and we had a blast. I never knew it would be fun to spend 6 hours on a bus with 50 seventh graders, but I did and it was great. We went to Fort Fisher, North Carolina.

In June, the kids went to their dance nationals- shortly afterward, due to reasons I won’t discuss here, we changed studios. It was a difficult decision, but the right one.

My oldest daughter met a new friend and role model, Ms. Simone Nichols-Pace at nationals and she hasn’t stopped talking about her since.

We kicked off our summer vacation at Great Wolf Lodge. I’d never been and it was a great experience.

Our children attended Vacation Bible School at our church and we had a wonderful time.

Oldest daughter went to Centrikid Camp for the first time ever and had a wonderful time. Next year, she will go to the teen version, CentriFuge, while her sister will be finally old enough to go to Centrikid.

In July, we got a new backyard fence- something we have wanted to do since moving into our home ten years ago. Here’s our youngest trying out the new gate.

We also redid our mudroom to create a laundry room from old bookcases we acquired for free.

In August, we joined a new dance studio. A lot of our friends are there and we are truly excited about the new season!

We went to Carolina Beach for a quick family vacation- it was the first time we went to the beach in two years.

We had way too many days that looked like this (and felt like sitting on Satan’s front porch might feel).

Something really wonderful happened at the end of summer- our youngest daughter was baptized. I cannot express how much joy it brings me to know my child has been saved and baptized.

We ended our summer with a concert and visit with our favorite band, Chatham Rabbits. Here we are, pictured with Sarah, one half of Chatham Rabbits.

Summer was short and hot, but boy, was it fun. We are blessed, happy and filled with love. We are excited about what the rest of this year holds for us.

Bring on the fall posts!