We Can Smell Summer

We've spent the last couple of days gearing up for a fun Memorial Day weekend. My friend Ruth, her husband Jake, and their son Joel are on their way from Michigan to visit us, and we are excited! We don't get many of my family or friends to travel this far east, and we haven't seen Ruth & Jake in  years (three!). We're looking forward to showing them around our small town, making some delicious meals together, and letting our boys play cars and trains while we get caught up :)

Last Friday, Nolan, Ephraim, and I visited our friend Jeanie! Jeanie and Rod live out in the country, and they have fun toys at their house for when their grandchildren come to visit. N & E had a field day!

  

They love playing in the sandbox boat!

 

And the motorized John Deere tractor was a huge hit.

Trusting a two-year-old on a pedal-controlled tractor makes my heart race. He did pretty well though!

I love this shot. Eating mac 'n cheese and summer fruit outside. Mmm!

Saturday marked TEN YEARS since the day that I met Stephen. In some ways, it feels longer than ten years, and in some ways, ten feels just right. May 21, 2006 was one special day in my life. Things just keep getting better with this guy.

Sunday afternoon, we checked out a local kids' carnival. Since it was a rainy weekend, some of the activities were cancelled, and the rest were inside. The boys enjoyed it though.

Cherries were on sale, and I had to buy a bag! There is nothing more summery to me than a bowl full of cherries. 

Our baby robins fledged from the nest on Monday. Yesterday, I spotted the baby birds in various places around our yard, so it's fun they are sticking close by. They have gotten so big!

On Tuesday, we had a MOPS playdate at the park with over twenty moms and more kids than I could count. Here's Nolan on the Merry-Go-Round with some of his girl friends.

And Ephraim was enamored with the Paw Patrol chalk.

On Wednesday afternoon, the weather was so gorgeous! I woke Ephraim up from his nap (I have to do that almost every day because he loves to sleep until dinnertime) and brought him outside. He tried to fall back asleep in my arms, and it was a flashback to how sweet it was when he slept on me all the time as a baby.

Nolan kept saying it was Hammie's birthday yesterday. I think it's the second time this year that Hammie has had a birthday, but we celebrated anyway with some chocolate chip cookies.

 I'm hearing that we're getting some storms this weekend. Say it isn't so!

Sweet boy always trying to bend the rules by flashing me cute smiles.

He loves his Ivy.

 

Hope you enjoy this long Memorial Day weekend! May it be filled with barbecue and sunshine where you are.

XO.