Free Scoop Day

Cupcake Royale used to have my favorite ice cream: Salted Caramel Cupcake. But now by some freaky turn of events I prefer cake over ice cream--I can't believe I just typed that. They were "sold out" of my fav so I mostly sat back to enjoy the girls enjoying their ice cream--they loved having three bowls and three cones in front of them. I loved sitting back watching through a lens. After we cleaned up, Annie walked past the jars of sprinkles right to the stacks of cones on the other side of the counter, which are conveniently placed at the exact level of little eyes and little hands. She didn't mind at all and grabbed a small stack! Then we ran out the door. On the way to the car I asked them if i could take their picture by the flowers to which they happily obliged (gasp!) and then had a ball cracking up at each other. I wish I would have kicked it into video mode because that laugh of Kate's - where she can't breathe - is one of the sweetest sounds this earth has ever known.

I am crazy about the photos of the girls cracking up so hard they couldn't stand up straight. Of course no one else knows what's funny! That is what sister life is all about--a lifetime of secrets that will never be shared. To watch these sisters strengthen a bond that will last into the eternities is happiness on the highest level.

Apple Blossom Festival Weekend

Summer is here. Hopefully. Fingers Crossed. And we can't get enough. 

Memories of my summers as a child are some of my favorite memories of all time. I can still taste the humongous carrot cake slathered in cream cheese frosting Mema would buy from Costco every year for my birthday - she knew they were my favorite. Bacca would sit poolside as all of the grandkids swam for hours and hours. We would hold our breath underwater and he would count. When we popped up he would shout out how long we held our breath, "8!" "4!" "12!" Little did we know he wasn't counting at all - just making up numbers! I knew I held my breath for longer than some of those 4's..... BBQs and cousins and parties and late nights and slumber parties on the living room floor and King's games...Life could not have possibly been any better than any of that, and now to watch it unfold through my babies' eyes is almost too much happy for me to contain.

Mother's Day weekend spent in Wenatchee was a much needed break from city life. Tears come to my eyes now as I remember Cindy, Nicole's mom, tearing up the stairs SO excited to see her own grandbaby. She had been out on an errand that could not wait and was sad to be gone when her family had arrived. I was in the house when she came home and heard her fly through the door, watched her leap up the flight of stairs, in a rush to get out the back door fast enough to her family. I hugged her and asked how I could help, but she said, "Oh, I have a car full of groceries that can wait; let's go see these babies first!" Life was put on pause - she had babies to see! I am full to overflowing with love and gratitude for my own parents, and equally for Tyler's parents, because I know they would, and do, sacrifice everything for our own happiness, no matter the amount of sleepless nights and busy schedules. Thank you, Cyndi, for welcoming us so lovingly into your home and taking care of us as my own mother and mother-in-law would have--even as a mother I still long for the rejuvenation that comes from being mothered.

These photos are what I want every summer to be: freedom, laughter, pool toys, naked babies, yummy food, smells of the grill, dessert, happy, family, friends.

Sitting in a backyard while the babies play in a pool are the memories of my childhood, and some of my favorite memories of all time. Then, nothing compared to Mema and Bacca's house all summer long, and now, to watch the girls bask in the freedom that is summer fills this mama with a joy that is infinitely times sweeter than honey.