This weekend, we...

I love weekends in the summertime, especially ones like this one. This weekend brought the perfect mix of productive and relaxed, of things to do and look forward to, with pockets of unplanned, open space for us to go with the flow a bit and find our own fun. Other than a few graduation parties and an anticipated morning play date with good friends, we didn’t have much planned, and we made sure to savor the open canvas with a slower pace and some of our favorite summertime distractions. 

This weekend, we… 

…reunited with the old crew at graduation parties. It was so wonderful to see so many familiar faces on Friday night, and made me feel honored and blessed to be part of this forever family. 

…played at the park ‘til bedtime. Friday night was gorgeous, and we decided to replace books at bedtime with curly slides and stepping stones at Pfeiffer Park. Cruz made friends with some older kids with a skateboard, and they even let Cruz have a ride or two. Suddenly, Mom and Dad were standing in the middle of the playground by ourselves, feeling dejected and old. I can’t imagine when he’s 16… 

…shared donuts and coffee at the park with Nate, Kate, Harper, and Will on their last weekend in Cedar Falls. We will forever remember Harper as Cruz’s first true friend, and have loved getting to know this wonderful family. We wish them the best of luck on their next adventure and I have a feeling we’ll be seeing our first Tulip Festival in the future… 

…got a little productive in our backyard space. Planted one last garden bed, mowed the lawn, cleaned up Cruz’s pirate ship water table, and secured our outdoor umbrella in its spot on the deck. It felt good to do some spring cleaning outside, and I felt myself officially ushering summertime in as we manicured our space.

This year, we had a little more help from our growing boy. For being quite picky on wardrobe choices and especially shoes as of late, I was surprised to see Cruz shed the clothes little by little the longer he stayed outside. Soon, in nothing but a diaper, Cruz was getting reacquainted with his water table, splashing in its leftover puddles, and doing his very best to keep up with Beau with his lawn mover. This mental image I have, of my diaper-clad boy pushing his mower every which way behind Beau is classic summertime. And although he was having the time of his life pushing that little mower around, I have a feeling Pap’s riding lawn mower rates a bit higher than Daddy’s push. 

…went on a picnic. Although we had plans for a picnic last weekend for Mother’s Day, we decided it was a little chilly and decided to postpone for a nicer night. The night was perfect, maybe the best yet, and I made Beau promise we could stretch the evening out, take our time, and go home when the sun went down. 

Cruz fell asleep on the way to George Wyth, so we opened the windows of the car and let him sleep while Beau and I enjoyed a surprise little dinner just the two of us. After Cruz woke up, we read some books, blew some bubbles, and ended the night with a walk to the park playground. 
 

 

…played cribbage by candlelight on the back deck, just Beau and I, followed by my first s’more of the season on the Big Green Egg. We cheat a little by using the egg, but holy cow does it roast the best mallow. 
 

As I think about Memorial Day weekend and the first official kickoff to summer right around the corner, I am thankful for the prequel we’ve already enjoyed. We have a lot of big decisions to make and some upcoming changes to prepare for; however, I’m anticipating a summer full of fun, carefree, and happy memories in the making.