Cousins...The Greatest of Friends

Yesterday was Father's Day and we had a fabulous day. My family came over to our house for a cookout with amazing food, some great conversation and cousins. 

When I think back to growing up, some of my favorite times were spent having adventures with my cousins. From playing in my cousin Jamie's playhouse, which I so wanted, to having sleepovers in my Grandma and Grandpa Bell's house with the Connor J-Ville (My aunt and uncle had 6 daughters and their names all start with the letter J!), cousin time was the best!

I was watching all of the kids playing together yesterday and a smile came to my face as I thought about how lucky they all are to be growing up together. Our family is fortunate that we're all relatively close in distance with no one being more than an hour away. Our kids get together for almost every major holiday and I know for a fact that they all love their cousin time! In fact, some of them were cooking up a sleepover, fishing, campfire date before they parted last night! ;-)

The Cool Kids Table

Chilling on the coolers

Pool time!

Dunk time!

Awww...

I love seeing the kids having a great time together and enjoying each other's company. Before we know it, they'll all be grown up and have their own families but for now, we're going to enjoy them and their special bonds! 

Slowing Down for Summer

Last week was our first official week of summer break. No alarm clock set for 4:50 a.m. No particular bed time. No place special we had to be. After a many times very stressful spring, this first week off was pure heaven!

In this week off I did a lot of reflecting, both personally and professionally. With the ending of the 2017-18 school year, we have one son who just completed his last year of elementary school and another who will be entering his last year of elementary school in the fall. Where has the time gone? It seems like just yesterday they were little guys taking their first steps and before we know it, they'll be in high school! The fast pace of life has got me thinking how important it is for us to slow down for summer...to take the time to have adventures, spend a lazy afternoon curled up with a good book, to just unplug and connect with one another.

So what have we done in this first week to slow down? We've done a lot and we've had fun! We've taken walks, caught tadpoles, done some fishing, played around in the swimming pool, read some good books, played games...and the smiles on the faces of our boys as we've done these activities have made it all worth it!

On a tadpole mission

Battleships on the back deck

Playing in the pool

While I know schedules can get crazy, try and carve some time out of your summer to just slow down and take it all in. Your family will thank you for it.