So much summer 2023

Summer. 

Summer used to be my favorite season when I was a kid. Understandably so. I have always loved the outdoors, and as a kid in the summertime, I lived outside. I remember being at my grandparents' house in La Crescenta most summers because my mom worked full time so we would just pretty much live in the pool. I'm sure my poor grandparents were not super happy about this. I remember my grandma yelling at us to shut the doors so the flies wouldn't get in. And she would always have The Young and the Restless blaring. Or The Price is Right. Grandpa was always in the kitchen cooking something adventurous or sleeping in his recliner. I wasn't interested in Grandpa's special concoctions or Grandma's soap operas so I would stick mostly to water-gun fights with the neighbors, rollerblading or riding my bike around town with my brother, and of course swimming. They had the most springy diving board.

Then I grew up and started working and summer became something I missed. I would drive home after my 9 to 5 job and wish I was a teenager again, carefree and going to the beach or pool. 

Then I had kids. When my kids were little, I had to psych myself out before each summer. School was childcare and summer was a time for me to go a little mad while trying to "enjoy them while they're little" as I was told by older moms.  

My kids' summers are so different from mine. They are full of camps and playdates and TONS of Roblox, a computer game I have come to hate. Screens. Ugh. I have pretty much accepted that screen time is a part of their lives. That doesn't mean I don't tell them daily how it's ruining their brain and their eyesight and that they're going to need readers at the age of 20 instead of 40. Oh well. I'm not really the kind of mom who writes lists of ways to earn screen time. Those lists are good and all but I've just never been structured or disciplined enough to implement them. And part of me wants them to have a non-structured do-whatever-you-want summer because those are so limited. 

In the last few years, I've come to appreciate summer again. I get to sleep in. No waking kids up to get ready for school. No helping with homework. No 500 emails a week from all the schools my kids attend. It's a nice break and I'm enjoying it. I really do love experiencing a childhood summer all over again through my kids' eyes. It is very different but still so lovely. And just like that, July is almost over. And school will start in a few weeks and I'll have a kid in high school. But let's not talk about that quite just yet.

Here's what we've been up to... the highlights of course. I don't have many pics of the kids on their computers cuz that's boring.

VBS this summer was a lot of fun. I helped with snacks and Mya helped with the 4-year-olds and Winter helped with crafts. Addie attended as a camper and Angus went to summer school. He loved summer school for the record because he got to ride a bus for about 8 minutes to another school that hosted it this year. 

Addie got to go to Camp Idrafoje (I'd Rather Follow Jesus) for the first time. She has been hearing about it for years and has been looking forward to it more than anything. It did not disappoint. Mya helped in the kitchen and slept in a tent with her fellow kitchen helpers. I don't think she slept much. When she came home she took a 4-hour nap and I had to wake her up for dinner.

I celebrated some birthdays with my awesome high school family.

And miraculously found a weekend to get away with one of my favorite people. 💗

We ate, we drank, and we went to bed at a decent hour and slept in.

When my girls reach a certain age, I take them away for a weekend to talk about the changes their bodies are soon going to experience and the birds and the bees. It was Addie's turn this summer. I brought Winter so she wouldn't be too bored.

For the 4th of July, Dan was not working. He works most 4ths. We normally go watch the fireworks at Lacy Park and hang out with the firefighters. This year, since he was off, we decided to keep it low-key and just BBQ some burgers and dogs. We invited one of our favorite ladies to come hang out and just enjoyed a calm day. Azusa is not calm about fireworks, however. So we did hear a warzone happening outside come dusk. 

One of these days Angus is going to figure out how to get those buttons in the right holes.

I felt bad about Angus missing out on all the summer fun for a month while he attended summer school so I promised him every Friday we would go out for a treat of his choice. He picked ice cream and donuts. I took him to Donut Man in Glendora. They are famous around here for having amazing giant donuts. Angus was in heaven.

This is a random pic of Addie "grabbing a snack for the road." #summer. 

Mari and I were impressively able to find a day to get together. It's getting harder and harder as the kids and their commitments and social calendars 

grow. We were even missing a couple of Higerds but there are so many of them that there were enough to go around =)

Mya hosted a pool party for her friends. I love these girls. I can't tell you how thankful I am that they are sweet and innocent. In a world of make-up, mid-drifts and curse words, Mya has found herself some real gems.

These two 💕

Sisters.

Oh Bakers how we love you. We saw Little Big Town at the SB Bowl. One of my favorite nights ever.

And these cousins are growing up way too fast.

Mya is currently attending her first High School summer camp at church. She looked so tiny next to the grown men that call themselves seniors when I dropped her off. But I know she's having an amazing time. And I'm continually grateful for the group of leaders and kids that she gets to hang out with all the time. We love our church fam.

That's it! Happy Tuesday. And Happy Summer! We are not going to talk about back to school yet, despite what my email inbox says =)