What FIVE and 3/4 looks like.

I have a bunch of things I want to blog about here (My new nieces and nephews, trip to Alaska, new job (!), Kindergarten graduation, etc.) but I simply HAD to share these photos here tonight.

I wanted to make sure I caught Riley with her missing front tooth - it's such a quintessential part of childhood - so we headed out for an evening walk with camera in tow.   She isn't always in the mood to let me take photos of her, but this night was a bit of an exception.  She was giggly and silly and hammed it up for the camera, but there were some genuine "I'm happy and carefree" smiles in the bunch, too.    I definitely got a few keepers. 

 

 

 

I know I'm biased, but this girl...she's so much fun.

A bucket list for my favorite season.

Sunny mornings. 
Avenues roses.
Street festivals.
Parades.
Long bike rides. 
Fireworks.
Weekends in Idaho.
Swimming.
Sprinkler running.
Hiking.
Warm evenings.
Outdoor concerts.
Farmers markets.
Flip flops.
Roof top picnics.

Oh, yes. It's summer.
I love summer.
I REALLY love summer. 

This is the second year that Riley and I have made a "Summer Bucket List" to help us be intentional about how we spend our time during the best season of the year.  Last year, we found our Bucket List to be a great way to help us squeeze every last drop out of summer by helping us focus on the all the fun things around us, and we were both excited to write one again this year.  Riley chimed in with more requests this year (hence, Lagoon) but was not happy to hear that hiking was on the list again  (it's not her favorite activity, but I am determine to make encourage this girl to love the outdoors.)   We've already begun checking off a few of our items and I'm looking forward to living it up this season! 

Check.

Over the weekend, we spent a fantastic day with good friends, enjoying perfect weather and great company.  And as a bonus, Riley got to check off the first item on our summer bucket list. 

We went for a little hike up Toll Canyon - close to Park City.  The scenery was beautiful, the trail easy and accomodating, but the kiddos found the river to be the highlight of the hike. 

 

Well, I know Riley did, anyway.  The Girl's a water-baby, for sure. 

 

 Thanks, Brenna, Jeff, Luke and Arlo!  It was such a great day!

What we'll be doing this summer

Summer Bucket List

Wow!  Tomorrow is June 1st!  JUNE!  I honestly cannot figure out where May went.  I knew it would be a very busy month, with tons of work and personal commitments (hence, little blogging), but it was even busier than I imagined. I'm happy to be able to take a breathe now that the chaos is getting under control and really think about how I want to spend the summer.

Because my life is so full of "have to do's", I have begun to be really intentional about where I spend my (very limited) free time. I want to spend it doing things I enjoy, with people I love, rather than just letting it pass by.

Summer is my favorite season - I love the more relaxed pace, the chance to be outdoors, the many festivals and events, and the general spirit of play and adventure.  I want to make the most of this summer, the last summer before my Girl enters school (Kindergarten this year - I KNOW, Right?!) and make sure we are focusing our time on the things we really want to do.  So- we talked about it and came up with our "Summer 2012 Bucket List." 

Brainstorming this list with Riley was a lot of fun.  She surprised me with some of the items she added to the list, especially "watch a baseball game."  She hasn't shown much interest in this before, but....ok!  Let's do it.  She also added "Red Butte Gardens" to the list - she loves the walking trails and the flowers there and I am more than happy to spend time with her outdoors.  The items I am the most excited about - "Go see Aunt Becky" and "Farmer's Market Photos" (with one of my favorite people - Alisha.) 

I'm excited about our bucket list and VERY excited about the upcoming summer.
So what about you? What will you be doing this summer? 

Bring on summer! Bring on the happy!

 

*Sidewalk chalk art

*Swimming lessons

*Outdoor concerts 

*Pedicures 

*Long holiday weekends 

*Summer nights in Bear Lake 

*Afternoons by the pool 

*Coca-cola slurpees 

*Riding my bikes

*Baseball games 

*Flip flops

*Watermelon for breakfast, lunch and dinner

*Evenings on our rooftop deck

*Hiking 

*Fireworks 

*Paddle boarding

*Rose gardens in bloom 

*Sprinklers and slip-n-slides 

*Festivals 

*Birthday parties 

*Barbecues 

*Camping

*Trampolines 

*5Ks, 10Ks and maybe a Tri or two

 

I love summer -can you tell? 
There are so many things to get happy about!
So c'mon! Get HAPPY!

Goodbye, July

Where did July go? It seems like a few days ago that we were celebrating Independence day, and out of nowhere, it's August 1st and I'm getting 'back to school sale' flyers in the mail!?!

Not sure how this happened.

Anyway, I thought I'd share a few random photos from July that make me smile.
The last two are Riley's iPhoneography. I love her Self Portrait (she's beautiful, no?)
She described the last photo as "How you look when you drive, Mama." It's fun to see how she sees me. I love it.

Happy August!

Found at the Farmer's Market

Summer in Salt Lake City means the Saturday Farmer's Market. I love to check out the beautiful art, produce and flowers on display. What I don't love, however, is the hoards of people everywhere so I don't make it a weekly tradition. Last Saturday was my first trip of the year, so I decided to take my camera along for the walk.
(pssst....I'm learning to edit photos in Photoshop. This is the first batch I've worked on in this program. It's very much a work in process, but it's always fun to learn a new skill.)