Last Day of School

What a year it was.  I really can not believe today was the last day of school.  This last year has taken so much out of me, that the thought of having everyone home every day for the summer, and the expectations to do fun things and stay busy feels extremely overwhelming. 

We opted to keep Tripp home this year, not only because of Covid, but because Blaine and I had fallen into a routine with work that it almost made it easier to have him home and not have to worry about pick up and drop off. Also, he is awesome and loved having him home!

Owen retuned to school in November and Cash followed him one week later. Eli stayed home until January before returning to school. It was definately a good move for all of us. 

I can not imagine what a hard and emotional year it must have been for our teachers. But we all made it through. 

Looking back, there were a lot of good things that came out of this last year.

We desperately missed our friends and family. We strengthened our WiFi like no other for Zooms. And I remembered how much my family needs each other. Daily. I don’t want to forget these things. I am watching life come back. And let me say, I missed life. But I don’t want to leave behind the knowledge that quality life is better than quantity. You can’t hug someone unless they are next to you…within arms length. I don’t want to lose sight of good conversations and time spent together. We had lots of family walks and played lots of games. I dont want to lose this…Busy doesn’t make better and practice might just make perfect, but perfect can’t take the place of time with your people. I want my best life. And it may just be a little slower than before…I may pick and choose the actions to bring lasting impact over pointless projects. I want to move forward with the wisdom of 2020. I’ll remember worthy time with worth it people. I dont want to give in to the pressure to give my time to pointless ventures. This year taught me what was truly important. As excited I am that we are inching to "normalcy," whatever that is, I will miss the slow paced life we had this last year and hope that I can hold onto the good things of this last year.

Here are my "last day of school" pictures from this year...I remembered to take them on the way to Kiker drop off....and when Eli was getting on the bus-ha!

Port A 2021

 I always love our annual Port A trip. My parents did not make it with us this year. With Covid and not having extra staff at the store, they decided it was best for them to stay back this year. It was a bummer but we still managed to have a wonderful time. We had just given them a digital frame for their anniversary and we were able to send them pics as the trip went on so they could see what we were doing! 

We made the stop at Buccees on the way...I was in one of those moods where I said "yes" to everything and we ended up leaving with quite the collection of Buccee's items....balls, blankets, shirts, hoodies...what was I thinking??

Eli was not thrilled with my Bucce's purchase for him and was flabbergasted I would have him wear that hoodie!

Our trip this year was a tad different. We had a reservation for a house in Cinnamon Shore but could only get 4 nights at the house based on the one and only week that both Rachel and I could make it to the beach this year. But 4 nights was not going to cut it, so we extended two nights on the front end and stayed at the Sandpiper Condos. It was a really fun change of pace for the first couple of days. We lucked out with an amazing condo that overlooked the pool and the beach! It was fun to mix it up and do it a little different this year!

I think our evening trips to the beach were my favorite part of the days this year. We did some shrimping, crab hunting, fishing, kite flying, hole digging, shell hunting....I love the beach in the evenings!

The time hanging out in the house and condo was also so lovely. Trippy and Camille were like two peas in a pod and were with each other playing all day every day!

Candy exchange after our trip to the candy store.

Gosh, I sure love these beach boys with my whole heart!

I think this year was my favorite yet. I am sure the fact that all the kids are a little older and things just felt so much easier had everything to do with it. It was a bummer to not have my parents there, but these cousins really love each other, and get along so well. Any time I get to spend with Ethan and Rachel is always wonderful, and to have some normalcy on this Port A trip was so refreshing. I am grateful Blaine and Hobo were able to come, and that I have been blessed with just the most amazing family. 

Eli's Big Day

Eli just finished up his first year of middle school! But before he did, he went through another right of passage.....BRACES! And because we are living through the Era of Covid, he also got his Covid vaccine! It was a big day for him....and yes, he got them both on the same day.

This little side-kick of mine came with me to Eli's appointment. He was a trooper!

Eli did awesome and looks adorable with his new mouth of metal! He is such a pre-teen, complete with all the groans, huffs and puffs that come along with anything I ask him! 

 It was such a relief to get him vaccinated! He received his second one June 21. So happy to check that off! He took it like a champ-proud of this kid!