Hello Foodies! I don’t know about everyone else, but I’m still struggling to accept that summer is over. I’m enjoying a lovely, mild Colorado fall, but I feel like the summer just washed away like a giant wave. The older I get, the faster time seems to fly by, but this summer in particular went by way too quickly. The landscapers in our neighborhood just pulled all of the flowers out of the medians and I got so sad! It literally feels like they planted them a month ago. I am enjoying watching the leaves change and getting to pull out my flannel shirts, scarves and boots, but I’m not ready for winter and I know it will be here before we know it.
We did have an opportunity to do some fun things as a family this summer, so I thought I would share them with you. Due to my husband’s work schedule it isn’t easy for us to take trips, but we did travel to California at the beginning of June for a family reunion to celebrate my step dad’s 70th birthday. It was the first time my entire family was together since our wedding back in 2005! The cousins had so much fun together and it was so nice to have both of my siblings in the same place at the same time.
We had a great day at Knott’s Berry Farm, which made the girls so happy. Jay used to to take them every November during Military appreciation month. They would get free admission for two days and stay in the Knott’s Hotel. I made reservations at the same hotel for our California stay because I knew it held such special memories for the girls and just watching their eyes light up like when they were little made my heart swell. We had fun playing Heads Up in line for the rides and my parents even came with us. They weren’t able to ride all of the adventurous rides, but they were such good sports and my mom rode a couple of the smaller coasters. The kids loved seeing Nana on the rides.
My sister, my niece and nephews, Jay and the girls and yours truly waiting in line for the Silver Bullet® roller coaster
We also had a wonderful family reunion at my step dad’s 70th party. He and his buddies played some oldies and we danced and sang and reminisced and shared what’s new with our families. It’s hard to believe we are all getting so much older now. When we’re together, I still feel like I’m 10 years old playing Operation in Grandma and Grandpa’s guest room. My cousins and I had so much fun at Grandma and Grandpa’s. They had a pool so all day long we’d be in the pool and then we’d play games after dinner in the “game room.” They are both in heaven now and I sure do miss them!
Our trip happened fall during Father’s Day weekend, which was such a treat because my siblings and I hadn’t been with my step dad on Father’s Day for as long as I can remember. Probably 15 years or more! We went to my brother’s church (he’s a pastor in Huntington Beach) and then had a BBQ with his congregation then went and walked down the pier and did a little shopping. It was the perfect day and it was so nice to be at the beach. That’s one thing I really miss about California. I love living in Colorado, but the ocean always calls my name.
We also went to a few sporting events. We went and saw the Sky Sox play and it happened to be on Harry Potter night, so I had my first Butter Beer. It was very sweet, but it was fun to try. I really want to get to Universal Orlando one of these days and visit The Wizarding World of Harry Potter. I’m not a Harry Potter fan (I’ve never read the books if you can believe that!) but I think it would be fun to explore.
They even had a short play with the Harry Potter characters and an incredible fireworks show!
I’ve sort of been obsessed with the tiny house movement lately. I love to watch Tiny House Nation and here in Colorado Springs they started having a Tiny House Jamboree in 2015. It was such a huge hit that they moved it to the Air Force Academy this year from the smaller venue they had the year before. Jay and the girls and I and our friend Tom spent several hours there. They had lots of tiny houses that you were allowed to tour and presentations on tiny house living complete with music and food and a good time was had by all. It was so fascinating to look at the different houses. I am not sure if I could live tiny with a family, but I can envision just Jay and I (and Hope dog of course!) living in a tiny house one day. Not 180 sq feet, but maybe 500 ;). We each need our own space. For example, I love to sit in my office and blog. It’s my little sanctuary and it would be really hard to give up having my own space. Even if it were smaller, I still think it’s something I need. What about you, do you think you could live tiny?
We also made it to a game to see the Colorado Rockies. They are the closest MLB team and we try to make it to at least one game per year. We got excellent seats this year and they had a volunteer there that would walk around and spray all of us with water and he had sunscreen on hand for anyone that forgot to bring their own. He made the game even more entertaining! We could tell that we were in “his” section and there are a lot of regulars there that know him and have a special rapport. I wish everyone loved what they do as much as he does. It was all around a really fun day.
I love my crazy little family
We made a lot of memories this summer doing simple things like cooking out on the grill and playing games. We saw Finding Dory and The Secret Life of Pets and had a fun block party and went bowling and tried to really focus on appreciating the little moments.
How was your summer? Did you have any new adventures? Life is so short and I think it’s important to take the time to reflect on all of the special moments and even document them. I just found out last night that a classmate of mine passed away and it really hit me hard. It made me think about how precious life is and how the girls are getting older and I want to appreciate the family times that we have. We all get so busy and it’s crucial to just STOP sometimes and drop everything and just be together and be in the moment. I think I did a good job of that this summer and I don’t regret one moment that I did.
I’d love to hear how your summer went. Leave me a comment and let me know how you spent your summer.
Thanks for stopping by!
