A Summer Bucket List

The calendar says summer which means it's time to revisit my spring bucket list and move on into this new season. This was my spring bucket list...

I kept it short and sweet and still didn't do all I'd planned. I did a lot though, and there were so many fun spring happenings that didn't make the list which means I pass. 

Not that it's a test, but I don't like leaving lists uncrossed. 

Go to a Farmer's Market...not yet. I'm adding this to my summer list because I still want to get there. We just did not have a weekend where it worked this spring, but summer's my favorite for fresh produce and lots of grilled fruits and veg. 

Tackle the attic. Oops. Nope. And now it's hotter than h e double hockey sticks up there so I think we'll push this task off until autumn. Pretty sure last winter I moved the task to spring and since I'm not worrying about it in the heat of summer I guess you'll see it again when autumn rolls around. Hi hubs! 

Kayak. Done. Once but at least we got out there. We'll do more kayaking this summer and nobody will love it more than the little brown dog. 

Dye eggs with the kids. Celebrate Easter. Host dinner. Wow, raise your hand if it feels like Easter was a hundred years ago? In reality just two months. Well, technically a lot longer than two months, but you know what I mean. 

Anyway, this one was done-done-and done and I loved it all. 

Write a love letter. Hmmm...I'm going to say yes because I wrote my grandson a birthday letter four days before summer rolled in. I think when I put this on my bucket list I was thinking more of the hubs, so maybe I can still make that happen. I like writing letters and we still need to officially celebrate our anniversary. 

Hike a trail new to us. Nope. I wish we'd been able to do this, but between the weather and my ankle we didn't get to this one. We don't do a lot of hiking here in the summer because it's so hot, but never say never. 

Host a Derby party. Yup. Whoohoo! It was lots of fun too. 

Pick strawberries and make jam...fail. There's always next year, and thankfully daughter1's mother-in-law makes strawberry fig preserves and always shares. 

Visit a garden. Does my daughter2's raised beds count? Ha! 

Probably not, but I loved seeing all her plants and look forward to tasting something she's grown. 

See a ballet. This was one of my favorite springtime activities. Daughter1 and I went to the International Ballet's performance of Don Quixote to celebrate her birthday. The costumes were beautiful, the dancing exceptional, and there's nothing quite like a mother-daughter day to bring the smiles.  

Spring was busy. While I only managed to complete half my list, there were lots of fun spring events that happened, but weren't listed....my sister and niece came out to the lake one weekend for brunch, the 'kids' moved out and into their own home, we had a whole week with both girls and all the grands in the house, took our first boat ride, celebrated a soon-to-be new momma, a grandson turning three, 41 years of married life, and more. It wasn't dull. Or quiet. 

Now bring on summer...

Linking today with Joanne for Talking About It Tuesdays...hop over to her blog (Slices of Life)  and see what everyone else has to say on this last Tuesday in June. 

Hey there Monday

Good morning friends. Hope you had a fun summery weekend. Here's how ours looked...

It looked full. It looked like a lot of miles on the car. It looked like bluegrass and bourbon. It looked like young love and old friends. It looked joyful. It looked like taking the long way home. 

It looked like summer. 

We were up bright and early Wednesday morning to make our way west and then north to Cincinnati via Kentucky. Friends we've known for more than two decades had a daughter getting married and we were headed there to celebrate her big day on Friday evening. 

Daughter2 and the bride have been friends since second grade and we parents have been friends that long too. Daughter2 was in the wedding so she and her hubs were there too which was fun.

But first! Kentucky. Friends we met while living in the UK who now live in Texas have a lake house about an hour from Cincy, so that was our first stop. We arrived mid-afternoon and hung out on their porch, had a wonderful dinner together, played cards, and caught up on all the things. 

We discovered we were all doing The Bible Recap this year so we listened together on Thursday morning which was special. Then we made our way in the general direction of Cincy in two cars so they could head home after our excursion and we could go on to the hotel. 

We had lunch in the General Store in a little town called Glencoe. There's not a lot in this area, but they served the owner's grandmother's chicken salad recipe and the guys had pizza which they said was really good too. From there we went just a few miles down the road to  Sparta for a tour of a small family owned distillery (The Neeley Family Distillery)

When in bourbon country...

The tour was interesting. We've been on the Bourbon Trail a couple of times before and have done a lot of the big distilleries, but this one was definitely different. You start with a video giving you the story behind the family and it's a little bit like the Hatfields and McCoys. They started as moonshiners but are making bourbon the legal way now. 

After the tour we said our goodbyes and hubs and I went on to Ohio to check in to the hotel. The groom's family hosted a welcome party at a fun brewery and everyone was invited to attend. They had a taco bar and the groom's parents made a sweet and funny speech in honor of the soon-to-be marrieds. A fun night for all. 

Coincidentally the wedding reception was in a venue just a few blocks from where Daughter1 and her hubs lived the year they were in Cincy, so we had to do a drive by of their old house. We sent a picture and she was happy to see the rope swing was still swinging. 

We went to breakfast at a place called Wild Eggs before driving in to the city to a section known as Over- the-Rhine. We walked through Findley Market, browsing the stalls, then headed back to our side of town so I could get my hair done. I always book an appointment to have my hair washed and dried when we travel to out of town weddings. 

It was a hot day and I needed the professionals to help battle the humidity and smooth it all out. 

The newlyweds were married in the bride's church and I love a church wedding. We rode a shuttle with the rest of the guests out to the church and the ceremony was lovely. If you were a June bride you were given a white rose as you entered the church and I thought that was a really sweet gesture. 

When we came out of the church they had a coffee bar set up for guests to enjoy while waiting on photos and the shuttle ride back to the reception venue. 

You could have regular coffee, cold brew, or an iced honey latte which is what I opted for. Yummy! 

The hydrangeas were beautiful here...

The reception was in a park (Ault Park for any locals reading) and it was a beautiful spacious venue. Everything was lovely. 

There were stations, seafood-beef-and mac and cheese, then assorted desserts rather than a wedding cake. Hubs and I wanted to plant ourselves beside the crab claws but we resisted. I didn't try the mac and cheese, but the seafood and beef were both really good. 

My favorite thing about a wedding reception is the father-daughter dance, and this one did not disappoint. I feel like the months and days leading up to the wedding are more about the mom, but the day of is where the dad's emotions really hit hard. 

My forever wedding date...

We were up and on the road with a cup of coffee to-go from the hotel lobby, because we knew the ride home was going to be a long one. There were big storms across the south on Wednesday night and sadly there was a rock slide on I-40 right around the Tennessee-NC border, aka our route home. It was already still a mess from Helene, but they've been working hard to get all lanes up, open,  and repaired, and now another setback. The road is closed again for another two weeks, which meant we had to take the long(er) way around to get home. 

We didn't run into any other snafus, just a much longer drive mile wise. We stopped for Mexican food close to home, then pulled in to the driveway to be greeted by Little Miss and her momma who were dropping off the little brown dog. They'd kept him at their house while we were away and while he was a good boy, nothing makes him happier than seeing his favorite person, the hubs. 

Sunday we declared a day of rest. Hubs back has been a problem for a couple of days and my ankle continues to be a problem (seeing the ortho on Thursday to hopefully figure it out) plus we were absolutely pooped. June has been chock-a-block full of all kinds of everything and we needed a day. Maybe more than a day, but we're starting with a day. 

We sat on the lower patio, I blogged, read, and relaxed, and hubs periodically asked how I was enjoying my vacation lol. We don't have any road trips on tap for July, although one may pop up, but mostly we plan to stick close to home, take the boat out, swim, and refill our tanks so to speak. 

And that was the weekend. How was yours? What did you get up to? 

 

I'm linking today with Holly and Sarah for their regular Hello Monday blog hop. Drop over and add your own weekend recap and see what others are saying too. Hope your summer is off to a great start! Or winter if you're reading from Down Under...I know there are a few here : )

Hodgepodge Questions-Volume 608

Here are the questions to this week's Hodgepodge. Answer on your own blog, then hop back here on Wednesday (June 25th) to add your link to the party. See you there! 

1. What does adventure mean to you? 

2.  What are your thoughts on tipping? What businesses or service providers do you regularly tip? Do you resent being asked if you'd like to add a tip? What about when a suggested amount is presented? 

3. I scream you scream we all scream for ice cream...do we? Is ice cream a favorite treat at your house? What's your favorite flavor? Regular, soft serve, gelato, sherbet, or some sort of non-dairy version of ice cream...what's your pleasure? 

4. What's your 'back in my day, we____________________ ' story or saying? 

5. Somehow this is our last Hodgepodge in the month of June. Next week's Hodgepodge lands in July. Wow. Sum up your June using three adjectives. 

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

Sum-Sum-Summertime Hodgepodge

Welcome to the mid-week random known as The Wednesday Hodgepodge. If you've answered today's questions add your link at the end of my post, then leave a comment for the blogger before you. Here we go-

1. Summer officially begins this week (in the northern hemisphere)...what was your favorite thing to do in the summer when you were a kid? What do you like most about summer now? 

My favorite thing? Oh my...lots of things....spending all afternoon at the neighborhood pool, going barefoot, a week at camp, big games of kick the can with dozens of kids from two and three streets over, sitting on the ice cream freezer to keep it from moving while my brother turned the crank...

...the freedom to be a kid and believe anything is possible. 

What do I love about summer now? 

dining al fresco, daylight that lasts until 9 PM,  fresh fruit, swimming, and sitting outside beneath a starry night sky

2.  Something you'll celebrate this summer? 

June is a big month for us and we've already marked a nephew's birthday, a nephew's high school graduation, a daughter's birthday, a grandson's birthday, our 41st anniversary, and Father's Day. Whew! Lots of fun family events and milestones.  

My oldest grandson has a birthday in July, as does my momma who will turn 95 years old. And we love celebrating our nation's birthday on the 4th, one of my favorite days of the year. 

3. Summer tastes like? Smells like? Sounds like? 

Tastes like...red, ripe, watermelon, ice cold sweet tea, hamburgers on the grill, peach cobbler

Smells like...charcoal burning, coconut oil, freshly mown grass, and chlorine

Sounds like...crickets chirping, kids laughing, water splashing, childhood 

4. June 18th is National Splurge Day...what's the last thing you splurged on? What might you splurge on today? 

I splurged (only a little) on some jewelry to wear to a wedding we're attending. In my defense, I had purchased several dresses and narrowed it down to just two. One was pretty pricey but I preferred the slightly less expensive one, so adding the jewelry made it all come out even. Something like that. I might have even saved money-ha! Hi hubs! 

I don't think I'll be splurging on anything today, but never say never. 

5. Share a favorite summer quote, saying, song lyric, or meme. 

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

In these very troubling times I remind myself every day He's got the whole world in His hands. 

'You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you.' Isaiah 26:3 

Recapping The Weekend Trifecta

And happy anniversary to us! Hubs is in one state and I'm in another, but we'll still mark 41 years of married life today. 

This particular weekend in June is what I call the trifecta here. Not only is it our anniversary, it's also Grandson #3's birthday and Father's Day too. Whew! Lots to celebrate. 

Let's back up and take it one occasion at a time, k? 

We had plans to travel to Daughter2's house in Tennessee for the big birthday bash happening there on Saturday afternoon. Hubs and I were going to head that direction Friday afternoon and then Daughter1 and her kiddos would join us there Saturday morning. 

Before leaving town we had a small birthday brunch here for a friend celebrating a milestone year. I mean why not? We had three couples in addition to the two of us. We intended to make bacon and eggs on the griddle, but the weather didn't cooperate for outdoor cooking. We still were able to dine outside, but hubs made the bacon and eggs on the stove. I made my overnight French toast, one friend brought a delicious hash brown casserole, and another friend brought a beautiful fruit tray.  

I think birthdays should be celebrated and this was a fun gathering. 

Once everyone left to get on with their weekend we finished cleaning up and hit the road to hub's brother and sister-in-law's house. My mother-in-law lives nearby and we were going to spend the night at my brother-in-law's then collect hubs mom Saturday morning to go the additional hour and a half to the party. 

This was our first trip to the Knoxville area driving our pre-Helene route. The highway between Asheville and Knoxville has been mostly closed or single lane since the hurricane hit and it's still a huge mess. You can at least get through now, and the traffic wasn't too terrible. I know most of the country has moved on from the disaster of Helene to any number of other crises our country has experienced since, but it's really hard to see and think about all that's been lost or rearranged in the western Carolinas and East Tennessee. 

We arrived at my brother-in-law's home in time for dinner. They grilled delicious filets and it's always great to see them and catch up in person. They were also keeping the little brown dog for us overnight so we didn't have to bring him to the party and he loves that. 

Saturday morning we picked up hub's mama and headed to Daughter2's. Her sister arrived with her crew and the world's biggest dinosaur balloon shortly after and we all had lunch. 

The party wasn't starting until 3:30 and the weather was questionable. They have a bounce house and we got that set up (by 'we' I mean my son-in-law of course) and then about an hour before the party the skies opened up, it rained buckets, then blew on out and the sun shone once more. 

Guests began arriving and the kids had a ball. My daughter and son-in-law have the nicest friends and they all have kids of a similar age which is fun. My daughter's in-laws were also there and we always enjoy time spent with them. 

The party had a dinosaur theme and everything was super cute. There was pizza and ice cream cake with a side of cupcakes too. 

The bounce house got a workout so a win for kids and parents alike. 

One of my favorite things about the day- 

Since Daughter2 had a full house with the in-laws in town plus her sister with her three children, hubs and I booked hotel rooms for us and for his mom for the night. The in-laws are staying over for several days and it didn't make sense for them to go to a hotel. 

Sunday morning we went back to the house for breakfast with the whole gang. I'd made two trays of french toast for the Friday brunch and brought one with me for the weekend which worked out well. My son-in-law made bacon and eggs on his Blackstone so everyone ate well. 

Oh, and happy Father's Day! I brought chocolates for all the dads and they had plans to go skeet shooting or clays or something similar that afternoon which they love. I rode back to the lake with my daughter1 and her kids as I had some things to take care of today, Monday. Hubs drove his mom back to her home Sunday afternoon, then spent the night at his brother's house. He had plans to meet a long time friend for lunch and will be home later today. 

Forty one years ago today we said I Do. We'll make plans for a celebratory dinner in the next couple of weeks, because while we're always living life all in, I still think it's important to set aside time to mark the year. To see where we are and where we've been and to say we're still here.

I always write a birthday letter to my grands on their special day, and if you'd like to read today's birthday letter, you'll find it linked here-Dino-mighty

Linking today with Holly and Sarah for their regular Monday morning weekend recap hop. 

Jump over to their blogs if you'd like to join the party. Have a great day everyone~

DINO-mighty

I always write letters here to my grands on their birthdays and today is one of those days...

Dear Sweet Baby J-

Today you are three. 

We had such a fun day celebrating you on Saturday, with a dinosaur themed backyard party filled with lots of friends and family. Your cousins finally live close enough to attend and you were so excited to see them walk through the door. You refer to the oldest two as 'my boys' which is too precious for words. You cry in the driveway when they pull away and I love the way you're growing up together. 

The little girls are right in there with you boys, and that's fun for everyone to see too.

When someone asks me what you're like I often say 'he's extra'. I don't know how else to say it. You're extra sweet, extra loving, extra joyful. Extra in all the very best ways. 

Some of my favorite things about you are the way you talk, the way you run, and the way you do a little happy dance when you're excited. You are precise in the way you put things together, and want to help Daddy in the garden, the garage, and with any wood working project he undertakes. 

You share well (most of the time) with sissy and love to bake with momma. Actually you love anything with momma because she's your girl. You also love swimming, swinging, all things that go, puzzles, and books. You love your people hard, and want them close by all the time. You have a sweet tender heart and move everyone at the table with your earnest prayers at mealtimes.  

Hey, guess what? Not only is today your birthday, it's also the day some forty one years ago that your Nana and Pawpaw got married. You were born on our anniversary, which only makes it all the more special. 

I believe these two milestones landing on the same day is no coincidence. Instead I see it as a gentle reminder love never stops growing. That day marked the beginning of a love story that would expand beyond just the two of us in ways we could not envision or be more grateful for. 

You little man, are living proof love multiplies, and every year as we celebrate our marriage we get to celebrate you too. You're a joy, a treasure, and a gracious reminder of God's love and faithfulness in our lives. Always know your Nana loves you deep and wide xo 

"Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; 

do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go." 

Joshua 1:9

Hodgepodge Questions-Volume 607

Here are the questions to this week's Hodgepodge. Answer on your own blog, then hop back here on Wednesday ( June 18th) to add your link to the party. See you there-

1. Summer officially begins this week (in the northern hemisphere)...what was your favorite thing to do in the summer when you were a kid? What do you like most about summer now? 

2.  Something you'll celebrate this summer? 

3. Summer tastes like? Smells like? Sounds like? 

4. June 18th is National Splurge Day...what's the last thing you splurged on? What might you splurge on today? 

5. Share a favorite summer quote, saying, song lyric, or meme. 

6. Insert your own random thought here.