Summer again went by in a blink, but this summer in particular felt both hard and wonderful. There were some amazing highs (our Kauai trip was definitely the highlight) and some tougher lows (H had a tonsil surgery that was a much more difficult recovery than expected).

Summer really started in my head early June with Hudson turning 6. His birthday this year fell on the wedding of one of my best friends from middle school/high school. It was so special to be there and be a part of her beautiful day.

We still made his actual birthday special with hotel decorations, birthday doughnuts, and baseball/soccer at a park all together. He even got some special time with auntie as she watched the older boys while we were at the wedding with Declan. We continued the celebrations with a baseball-themed party at the park with family and a few of his buddies the following weekend. This is a bit of a tangent, but we had hired a baseball coach to lead the kids in drills/a baseball game. Long story short, he stopped responding to us and so we had to make a quick pivot. We couldn’t find anyone to replace him since it was just a couple days before the party. Lance ended up stepping in and like always, did his very best to make it fun for the kids. My lesson here was to not stress when things don’t go perfectly. I was pretty annoyed with the whole situation, but it was again a reminder of letting go of my carefully laid out plans and to care less about throwing the perfect kid party. This party also felt very full circle as we celebrated H’s first birthday at the same exact park and it also was baseball themed!

Once school was out for summer and it was officially summertime, I really struggled at first. I can’t tell you how many times I checked my phone to find other camps to sign him up for. Hate to admit it, but it’s true. This was my first summer with 3 little boys and it felt hard to have everyone home.

Like with a lot of things, it just took a little time to find a good rhythm and we eventually all settled in. An added bonus was that we didn’t fully break the bank with tons of summer camps and managed to make a lot of memories together as a family.

My brain mostly works in lists, especially lately. Here are a few of the other major things from our summer:

• Hudson’s tonsil/adenoid surgery. This was a long time coming and absolutely needed to be done (he is SO much healthier now and doesn’t snore). However, it did add some unexpected panic and really was a terrifying day driving him back to the ER three days after original surgery, as he was throwing up copious amounts of blood. Long story short, his scab from original tonsil surgery came off, which caused the bleeding. God was over a very scary situation and got us all through. He had to have a second surgery to stop bleed and it seemed to lengthen his overall recovery. It was really a 2-week process for him to be back to his normal self. It was a rough patch of tons of pain medicine, middle of the night wake up, and lots of tears. We all made it through and Hudson is thriving- Praise God! This start of summer forced us to slow down, eat lots of popsicles and spend hours lego building.
• Officially started training for the NYC Marathon! I’ve been writing about each week of training. You can read the latest one here.
• Thatcher learned to swim! Hudson also learned to swim the summer he was 3. Thatcher took to it even faster and was swimming early on in summer. This made our Hawaii trip even more fun as he was able to fully swim and snorkel!
• Thatcher and Declan got dedicated at our church.
• Lots of good, ordinary days filled up with the park, farmer’s markets, and the beach.
• Hit the movies like we always do in summer and saw Despicable Me 4. It was cute and boys loved it.
• Hudson enjoyed a week of soccer camp through Beach FC. He loved every minute of it. This kid is officially in soccer mode.
• Celebrated Lance’s 30th! His mom threw a great party for him (Covid ruined some of the plans), but so nice to still celebrate him with family.
• Served at our VBS (Vacation Bible School) and Hudson enjoyed this one so much more than the first VBS I signed him up earlier in summer. The theme was Breaker Rock Beach. It was a sweet week.
• Our Kauai trip was definitely a major highlight of our summer. It was a super special time and I’m thankful for these memories made with our boys. Sea turtles, shave ice, jumping off the Hanalei pier, and the fire show were some of our favorite moments. Declan will obviously not remember this trip but hopeful this trip will hold a special place in the hearts of our older boys.
• We went to Adventure Playground in Huntington Beach with friends and boys loved all the water/mud/water gun fights. We spent more time with that same group of friends at an awesome pool in Irvine.
• We also enjoyed a day at the Natural History Museum with Grammy (did you know you can reserve free tickets if you have an LA County library card?). Hudson used his own money to buy himself a little dinosaur and he even bought a toy snake for his brother. I have loved watching H grow in maturity and responsibility this summer.
• We enjoyed some fun at Kidz Town in Long Beach (a fun indoor playground that is definitely more affordable compared to most indoor playgrounds/trampoline parks). All 3 kiddos are the perfect age for this place.
• We went to the butterfly SOAR exhibit at the South Coast Botanical Garden with Grammy, Auntie & Benny.
• Declan officially became a crawler and is all over the place and already 10-months!
• The days honestly felt so chaotic and full at times, that I did not do as much of my typical morning learning work and recording summer reading (we of course still read lots, but keeping track of all this felt overwhelming). I also had good intentions to get through some learning and made a review packet for Hudson at the beginning of summer, but we barely got through any of this. It just wasn’t that type of summer. Yet, I feel confident he is still very much ready to rock 1st grade.
• My summer essentials: this sunscreen, this Costco hat, these high-waisted Jean shorts from Old Navy, and the perfect water sandals. I basically lived in these all summer.
• Last day before school started was spent ocean dipping, finding out H’s 1st grade teacher on the beach, and enjoying in-n-out for lunch.

This was our summer. Definitely some long and tiring days, but ultimately a beautiful string of days marked by slowness and time together. It is always hard to let go of summer, but I can sense I am finally ready to turn the page to fall. Still not ready to pull out the pumpkins, but getting there. Bring on the AYSO soccer games, afternoons of homework and snacks, and a little peace and quiet for me!

You can read last summer’s reflection here.