A Date With Summer

July 4th.

It was good.

If days were dates, the good ole’ “falling in love” kind, then Holidays would be the ones to get dressed up for, with a little extra shimmer and sparkle.  My favorite kind, with surprises always lurking around the bend.  The ones that makes our hearts race with giddy excitement while we get gussied up and pull out all the stops. Heels, jewelry, lipstick, smokey eyes… The works. 

And even though I promised myself, and kind of nodded in agreement with my husband, that last weekend would be laid back and chill because we have so much on our plate right now, well, I couldn’t help but add a little touch of gussy to the mix.

So Aliyah stayed up with me past her bedtime as we spread ribbon and tags across the kitchen floor, washed dusty mason jars from off the top shelf, stuck toothpicks in hot cupcakes to make sure they baked just right, and smiled big as the preparations quickly became as fun as the big event itself when she happily reported, “We are so good at this. This is so fun, because we love each other.”

Yes, baby.  We do.

And our date with Independence Day weekend delivered with good food, lots of laughs, staying up into the wee hours of the morning and kept a constant hum of energy.

Our house pretty much has an open door policy, and it’s that way for a reason… We like it. So when Chris and a friend talked about having a BBQ, I didn’t have to send out one text or invite to have a house-full of friends and family.  All last week, I’d here that classic ring tone and look to see something along the lines of “Hey, heard there’s a BBQ, mind if I come?”  and I never mind.



I never mind sharing my babies with good friends.

Or passing around good drinks… that happen to be gulped down before a decent photo is snapped.

I don’t mind letting the hose run cold water to waiting tubs and squirt guns littering our yard since our pool is currently out of commission, and it’s hot.

Or finding baby toads in the yard that yield wild amusement for the kids.

And I definitely don’t mind seeing little ones stripped down to diapers to cool their sticky bodies…


or giving them fudge-cicles because they just weren’t sticky enough.


But mostly, I’m just happy to be able to celebrate freely with my family, surrounded by souls we love and that love us back.  Isn’t that the making of a good date?


This is my precious little butterfly niece, Sophia, who loves to love on my little guy.  It’s the cutest thing ever. 

As the dark of night drew close, my littlest enjoyed sparklers from the safety of my arms, while big sister ran her own around the yard between brakes in front of the fire to make us s’mores… and attempt to remove a sticky, melted marshmallow from her hand, which haphazardly landed on my shirt.

But an outfit change and a babe-nestled-safely-into-his-crib later, we were ready to settle into our rooftop patio for our own annual backyard fireworks show.  And really? I think my girl was more excited about staying up past dark than she was about the fireworks.  At least until they started.

Our Holiday tryst ended in fireworks, indeed.  And the morning after we sleepily yawned our way into the sunlight while daddy picked up a breakfast of take-out since no one could muster the energy to cook.  I was this close to plating the omelets and French toast, but then decided to just enjoy the disposable nature of take-out and saved my already clean dishes.

And a morning siesta on the swing while bed headed babes create is a necessary follow up to any late night party.

So yeah, we had a rendezvous with the Fourth, a quintessential celebration of summer, of life, of freedom.  And it was good.

Linking up this very wordful post with Wordless/Wordful Wednesdays… Wordless Wednesday, Supermom, Better in Bulk, Seven Clown Circus, Parenting by Dummies, Project Alicia, Momsense and 5 Minutes for Mom.

I hope you and your loved ones had a very happy weekend!

xo