Lovely Summer Ramblings

 I don't care if its still May, to me its SUMMER! Yesterday was Memorial Day and I know its not National BBQ day especially having a brother in the military but being surrounded by family, delicious food and an all encompassing hot, hot, dry heat of almost 90 degrees how can it not be Summer?
My mom made homemade strawberry ice cream which in a word was oh-mazing! We all felt sad because my brother (the one in the military) always requested strawberry treats and this year he wasn't home to eat with us but we sucked up and tried to enjoy it anyways ;)

My in-laws had a cookout too and there was corn on the cob which made us  crave vine-ripened tomatoes,watermelon and more corn on the cob. The kids were all running around outside, slapping at mosquitoes, baseball was at a dull roar in the corner of the living room, the smokey smell of the grill wafted in every time someone  opened up the deck doors.
 
  AHH, I love these days. The days of sunburn, watering cans, fresh cut grass, bluest blue skies, early evening thunderstorms,local carnivals, road side stands, flip flops,the easy laziness of the warm mornings, hair whipping in the  wind when the windows are down....I just love this time of year. Summer brings with its arrival Optimism, a hope eternal that "this summer is going to be even better than last year's"... Summer weekends come and even adults feel like school's let out again on Friday night.

This summer I hope to accomplish:

 1.) AN ACTUAL TAN ( not just a burn-fade-pale)
2.) a beautiful garden ( half way there. check.)
3.) Finish decorating our bedroom ( hopefully I'll get to use some of the great ideas I've seen on pinterest.)
4.) This is supposed to be the summer of the well-dressed me. A more modest, tastefully, thriftily clothed me. i.e tons of beautiful, cheap, sundresses!
5.) Try my hand at canning and preserving summer in a jar. I live surrounded by orchards and farms there is no reason to not bottle some of that goodness up for the middle of February when I can't take the gray coldness anymore.

Here's a few pictures from yesterday of the littlest ones: