Whenever my family is together, Mom tells me how glad she is that I take so many pictures. Typically, she’s right. I am snap happy and always have at least 100 edited pictures to pass along for us to print, file, and cherish.

This past weekend, my mom, Kris, Cara, and my two nieces came to visit for Labor Day weekend, and it was the perfect opportunity for picture taking. The weather was incredible (cool with low humidity in the mornings, warm and sunny in the afternoons), everyone was feeling good, you get the idea. So as I sat down this morning to organize the shots I took, I realized I don’t have all that many to share! I’m sorry, Mom, but perhaps it was just proof of a great staycation weekend?

It began Friday with Mom and I doing our best to make a good martini. Long time followers know that was always Dad’s specialty, but I think our effort was something he’d be proud of. The rest of our crew showed up that evening, in time for homemade pizza on the porch.

From there, the whole weekend just really had a nice flow to it. Saturday we sipped coffee on the porch, had a leisurely breakfast, then all headed out for a family walk. The girls had their walkie-talkies and ran ahead of us while we meandered around until it was time for lunch. After that, David and Kris went to pick up our afternoon boat reservation- a double decker pontoon!

Did I mention we joined a boat club? When we were planning on moving we sold our pontoon and joined a club so we’d still have access to the lake. Now that the whole situation has dissolved, we are boat-less, but still very much enjoying getting to try different kinds of boats via the boat club. For example, surprising the girls with a water slide was a ton of fun!

We spent a couple hours sliding and swimming before returning the boat, picking up Mexican takeout for dinner and settling onto the back porch for the evening. We were pleasantly surprised to find the Kentucky Derby was on (it felt so strange being in September!). Kris placed $1 bets for us on the horses of our choice (all picked according to their names, like the pros we are) and Mom’s horse won! It was such a fun time all shouting and laughing like we had a real stake in the game.

The evening was so chill. The girls played games and rooted for football teams they cared nothing about. They, like us, were just excited to see live football on TV! My youngest niece lived her very best life by getting to indulge in all the chips she wanted. I’ve never seen someone appreciate chips and dip the way Lacey does. I think we are kindred spirits!

Sunday was more of the same. Leisurely coffee on the porch (we woke up to it being 60 degrees!),  walks and workouts, playing outside, and relaxing. We had an afternoon speed boat reservation. It was so busy on the lake in the beginning and it was way too much bouncing around for my comfort, but luckily in eventually calmed down, giving us some great conditions for knee boarding. It was our first time trying it and Kris and I showed the kids how it was done, then both Hailey and Kyla rocked it as well. It was a ball!

That evening we grilled out, roasted smores, and soaked up one final evening of together time. There were some teary moments for me, just wanting Dad to be there with us. Having us all together was always so important and enjoyable to him. I know in some ways he is still (and always will be) very present with us all, but I sure would love to be able to give him a hug, and see his grin as he put his arm around Mom while they watch the grandkids run.

Well shoot, look at that, I guess I had more pictures than I thought! Thank goodness for phone pics. 

All in all, I’m riding high from a pretty wonderful unofficial send off to summer. We were blessed by perfect weather and a ton of new memories made. I really enjoyed hosting, probably because I love a busy house full of activity, laughter, and a little chaos, too!