So Long, Summer!

Summer 2015 was a winner. Spending time outside EVERY day, family walks, the neighborhood pool, and more time for projects like baking homeade breads! (Though this thwarted some of Mommy and Daddy's other summertime goals.)

 

We kicked off the summer with a Hill family trip to Hiltonhead!

 

 

 

There were some rare special days, like rainy afternoons worth remembering, and days when one twin woke up from his nap early for some one-on-one time with Mommy.

It appears Mommy and Daddy took a total of TWO date nights over the summer. (Must work on that total next season.) Steakhouse dinner one night, Jurassic World the other.

 

We celebrated the 4th of July on the lake with Grandad!

 

And spent a magical summer weekend with Grandma Ritt

 

 

 

There was a beautiful weekend in the mountains with the fam'!

One of the most memorable nights of the summer was spent watching my husband up on that ladder hanging my birthday present. After the boys' bedtime and dinner cleanup, I stood pointing and smiling while my man hung those beautiful lights, adding some whimsy to our backyard space. And then, of course, we invited all of our people over for a movie night on the lawn, to enjoy it!

 

And ordinary summer days are always made better by time with family...

 

...until it's time for them to go...

It's been great - The only reason we'll let you slip by, Summer 2015, is because good things lie ahead...

Apps that Simplify My Life? Yes, Please + First Six Months of 2015 Video

I struggle to keep up with the documentation of so many things about this life I love. 

That's why I am truly thankful for these 2 apps: 

Chat Books - Sorry fellow-instagrammers. I don't really instagram so much with you in mind, (although I'm delighted when you are also interested in my posts) so much as to store the photos that will make up my next Chat Book - perhaps the closest thing to a family photo album I will have until my kids leave for college. It's so easy - every 60 instagram photos go automatically into your next chatbook album, shipped to your door without any interaction from you, for $6.99. This is my speed. (So those times you sense I'm an OVER-SHARER who could not possibly have traveled to so many places and done so many things with my family today? Sorry to flood your feed. I'm actually just filling the last 8 photos in my chat book with photos I forgot to upload over the past 3 months so that our family album will ship to my door in three days.)

1 Second Everyday - I cannot believe how watching a literal second from one day brings the whole thing back. A tiny blip of my boy rolling down the driveway on his balance bike, and I remember the whole scene - the helmet he thanked me for not clipping his chin in, 100 rounds of running beside him on the street in front of our house, the sidewalk chalk hop-scotch fail, and then my surprise at looking up and seeing him start independently at the top of the driveway, and succeed in coasting all the way down for the first time! ALL FROM A 1 SECOND CLIP!!! So it's worth the mental effort to take a video instead of a photo each day. Speaking of worth it... I love this compilation of all the seconds I caught in our first 6 months in 2015.

It's A Date

Sometimes, life might best be expressed through hashtags. Ok, this truth statement only applies to... me? But tonight it really does. I kind of have two share settings: succinct enough to not complete a sentence (hashtagged), or lengthy enough to capture all the thoughts and feels (which is LENGTHY). This evening belongs in the archives, but must also continue with folded laundry, fun recital cards for nieces, and cuddle time with the husband, so tonight I'm choosing the hashtag version. You might even thank me.

#‎itsadate‬ ‪#‎happyheart‬ 

Bedtime last night was the sweetest. Absent photos... Gabe said to me, "Last time, you go a date with Daddy, 'omorrow, you go date with me?" I accepted. ‪

#theplan #awalk #icecream #chocolatewithsugaronit #tractorstruckskeys

 

 #wewalked #wehadchocolateicecreamwithsugarinit #wetalkedabouttrucksandtractorsandkeys

#ilovemymom #intentionalexpression #thoseeyes #dying

 #takepictureame?

 #youwatchme #isofast #followmemommy #adventuresindodginggoosepoop

 

 #alltheprettylittlehorses #wherezeke #ilovemybrother

 

#ihappywithyoudaddy #hestopstalkingonlytosip #twohappyguys

#zekeanddaddycomin? #textingdaddy

#alltogether #datenight #thehillfamily