The ABCs of Summer, pt. 1

A two-part photojournal of summer 2023

We had a summer mostly being at home as we dove into being a family of four. We stayed local and ate lots of Rita's Italian ice and watermelon. We played in our postage stamp yard and spent a lot of time in parks and outside. I've been on a somewhat sabbatical from writing as I've worked into our new rhythm but this summer I focused on trying to capture more pictures and the result has been my ABC photo journal.

Abundance

There was an abundance of hometown adventures to the orchard, camping, coffee shops, library visits, and local happenings. There was also an abundance of gratitude for our family growing, laughter, and learning to grow together in marriage, life, and business.

Books

I read several books this summer including this gorgeous book of poetry. Poetry seemed to be the theme of my reading this summer, perhaps because poems were the perfect snippet in the slices of time I had to read. Jael and I also read a lot of childrens' books!

Camping

We got two camping trips in this summer, checking out a new to us state park Cunningham Falls and hanging out at an old favorite French Creek! The girls did great sleeping in a tent and I have enjoyed being around trees a bit more, not to mention wracking up hours for my 1000 Hours Outside app tracker.

Date nights 

We got creative with date nights a few times after bedtime. My favorite was sneaking out to the porch with a pint of ice cream and one of favorite games - Splendor!

Energy (in liquid form)

Toddler + newborn life, plus just loving coffee, led to lots of coffee and time in cafés this summer, in addition to making different drinks at home. I have enjoyed cortados and cold brews a lot lately. It's a little bit ridiculous how many "coffee selfies" I have on my camera roll!

Flowers

We picked bouquets at the flower farm, planted and picked snapdragons from our yard, and appreciated wildflowers on our hike (with a few tucked into our hair!)

Giraffe feeding

A delicious acacia leaf snack for this sweet giraffe - Jael and I held on tight as he munched and Lucía chilled in the baby carrier.

Hiking

After being pregnant for half the summer, and recuperating from childbirth the other half, our first several mile hike felt amazing!

Hiking fun!

Ice cream

We ate a lot of ice cream and italian ice this summer - the perfect treat on sticky summer nights! We got this bubble waffle sundae when hanging out at Riverfest, a local music and food truck festival. I'll be honest, ice cream is practically a food group in my life.

Jars 

I practiced canning peaches, drank coffee out of mason jars, and filled jars with fresh berries for adventure snacks.

Kayaking

Kayaking at 39 weeks pregnant for a dear friend's Bachelorette party!! Although there was some alarm on the part of some people, Lucía stayed in the womb for almost 3 more weeks and there was no water birth here. 😉

Lucía

Our sweet Lucía (Lu-see-uh) was born on July 3rd! Another girl! My guess was right! She is a delight and we are so thankful for her.

Music

We spent a lovely Friday evening at a local café sipping coffee and enjoying music. Jael's favorite part was dropping chalk down the water drains with the café owner's sons.

Part 2 to follow!