Wrapping Up The Summer

Summer comes for an end for us today, with both girls heading back to school. I won’t lie, I’m sad to see the summer end. This is my oldest daughter’s last year in grade school and possibly my youngest daughter’s last year in preschool, and I feel like I blinked and time just zoomed by. While it’s exhausting trying to juggle it all (and I don’t always do it well) I really savor every moment I get with them.

I thought it would be fun to take a look back on summer. When I started this blog, I included a lot of behind the blog real life “stuff”, and I’ve kind of gotten away from that. But truth be told, I miss it. Blogging has always been about connecting to me, so I think it’s time to start working a little more of “me” back into the blog, not just all my sweet eats. 🙂

So here’s a look back at our summer, most photos from my Instagram…

We have a tradition of starting the first day of summer by going out to breakfast. If Oreo and Cinnamon Roll pancakes don’t scream, “woohoo, school is out!”, I don’t know what does!

After school gets out, we always have the dance season to wrap up with recital. My oldest danced in her 11th recital with her dance studio. ELEVEN! So crazy. It was fun to also have her cousin be a big part of the recital this year.

I made coffee brownies for recital. They were amazing (and I don’t like coffee, so that says a lot…)

We had frozen yogurt. A lot of frozen yogurt.

My youngest worked hard and played hard in therapy, and wore a lot of hats. Literally.

My oldest attended three weeks of STEM camps at Arizona State University, my alma mater. It was awesome. But it was also about three hours in the car daily.

She built all kinds of cool things that were solar powered.

And she built and programmed robots. We spent some time hanging out in Tempe.

My youngest child’s fashion sense was perfect for ASU’s party school reputation!

I woke up early a lot. To work out. Because I like to eat things like Snickerdoodle Caramel Ice Cream Sandwiches.

And things like Waffle Love. Ah, delicious Liege waffles from the cutest food truck ever. Thanks to Waffle Love for showing our area of town a little love!

I decided to try and make Liege waffles at home. So yummy, but I still run to that Waffle Love truck whenever it’s nearby, I always love it when someone else bakes for me!

We hung out by and in the pool.

The advance copy of my book, SMART COOKIE, showed up. Kind of surreal after 18 months of work to actually hold it in my hands. It’s available for pre-order on Amazon, and ships out September 2nd!

I celebrated a birthday with my family. And a giant margarita.

And received the sweetest gifts from friends like Katrina and Sara.

My little one started dance. This was big for us. This sweet girl’s baby shower was actually held at our dance studio, and she’s spent so much in and out of it with her older sister. Her time has finally come, and she’s loving it.

My oldest and I spent the 4th Of July at a local resort with friends. We had a crazy storm that resulted in a giant tree falling into a pool. While people were in the pool (um, giant storm, get out of the pool!). Thankfully all were okay.

And then as a family we went and spent a few days at the wonderful JW Marriott Desert Ridge. It was great.

And I crave this meal almost daily. Seriously. Burgers and ice cream sandwiches by the pool. YES.

My oldest had fun with her BFF. And Waffle Love. It was like the summer of Waffle Love (pic by Sara Hawkins).

I did some interesting posts, including making jean shorts, or jorts, with Sauza Tequila. Never a dull moment!

My father in law sent my daughter drums. As in a kit. A great big real one. Who wants to buy me earplugs and Advil?

I attended an amazing blog retreat, hosted by The Slow Roasted Italian at the Kimpton Firesky Resort. It was an incredible weekend with a fantastic group of bloggers. So fortunate to take part.

We had a s’mores party. And I learned that kids, tweens and teens will make s’mores, but also just eat all the stuff on it’s own like a dessert buffet. And Ritz Crackers on s’mores are all kinds of awesome.

One of my dearest friends visited from Mexico. It’s amazing how you can go years without seeing each other, then pick right back up over lunch. She was once an au pair, and I was her local coordinator. About 15 years ago. Crazy how time flies.

We visited the Sea Life Aquarium. And spent more time in the pool.

After asking for almost two years, I finally green lighted the very short haircut my oldest wanted. She’s so darn happy and it really suits her.

We squeezed in one last lunch, and even included dessert, followed by some pottery painting.

There were so many more great moments… sleep overs, water parks, a fabulous spa day for me with my friend Sara at The Spa At Camelback Inn, a visit with cousins, movies and more movies, visits with old friends and making new ones, late night ice cream and lazy mornings. While we didn’t have any trips or big events this summer, we really had a lot of fabulous moments.

And just like that, summer came to a close, and it’s back to school.

I hope you had a great summer as well!