Our June

Now that I sit down and think about it, maybe June is my favorite month. 

It has that just out of school, fresh feel. It has warm days and cool nights. It has new routines and familiar grooves. It gives you a little second to catch your breath before thinking about getting busy again. June has a lot to offer. But one thing June ain't got...enough days. 

Our June has been the perfect mix of everything a June should be. Add in suppers outside, good friends, early morning runs, afternoons in the pool and a few bike rides, and I have myself a June I don't want to forget.

One of the bigger June events was a few weeks ago; we traveled to Southern Illinois for a long weekend with some of the best friends. 

Oh...and we brought our 16 children along too. I don't remember the prompt for this picture exactly, but we do plan on recreating it when they are all our age. I think all of us parents were worried about just how much relaxation we would actually get with these crazies in tow. I mean how laid back can one be with this many kids?  I am very happy to say that all littles were so good. It ended up being one of the most chill getaways ever. 

The kids did a lot of fishing. I don't think Bennett wore a shirt or shoes (or even regular shorts) the entire time we were there. Auggie mastered his cast and eventually it payed off. 

Smiles for proof.

Theo did a lot of following around the big kids and napping. Vacation naps are the best naps. 

Em was in heaven because she got to spend all day with her best friend, share a bunk bed with her, and wake up to do it all over again. Kids swam, rode bikes, played in the sand, built a house out of logs and sticks, asked for side-by-side rides and drank a lot of capri suns. 

Adults watched the kids do all the things, sat around and sang songs, floated on the pond, took turns cooking the best meals, laughed a lot and toasted to all of our good times. (I decided last month it was the summer of toasts.) When packing up to leave, Em asked if she could go home with Charlee, and the boys voted that next time we should stay for a month. I vote we do this all again in the fall. What a blessing this group is to our lives!

Our bigger trips have made June so fun but so have our everydays.

Some weeks in June it has felt like I have barely seen Douglas because of work or ball. But then other weeks we get to sneak away with friends for a lake day or sit outside after supper in quiet. June for me means Doug home a little earlier in the evenings, grilled suppers on the deck and trying to convince Doug he should take off work and just stay home with us. 

June for Em has meant sleeping in, reading, following Theo around the yard for me, playing softball, swimming with her brothers, playing the piano and being content. She is always happy to go and always happy to stay. She makes summers so much easier for me. 

Auggie's June has been filled with hustle on the ball field, riding his bike (on the road by himself!), begging to go to a friends house everyday, making everyone lunch, asking me to pitch to him and being told to go find something to do. He is more my needs to be entertained one, but on those mornings where he decides its the perfect day to play hot wheels with his little brothers...those are really sweet days. 

Bennett's June has been full of asking to swim first thing in the morning (and learning to do so again without floaties), trying to keep up with Auggie on his bike, losing his shoes, picking me flowers, never coming in, and refusing to nap and then inevitably falling asleep. B was made for summer; he is happiest sweaty and dirty and free. 

Theodore is a mix of everyone else's summer. He makes laps in the yard with his lawnmower (with Em right behind), he always has a ball helmet on (backwards) and swings a bat around just as much as Auggie does. While his sandal tan is proof that he wears shoes outside, he and B slip outside without me giving the go ahead sometimes...and they do not come back in. He eats Reeses puffs in a bowl every morning (4th child), he takes the best naps, he asks for his paci all day (and I might give in most of the time), and he keeps us all very busy. 

The kids and I are in that familiar groove by now. In June I have learned the art of getting up early, and it has truly made me such a better summer mom to my littles. I have kept my flowers alive. I have said yes to fun and prioritized things that are good for my body and mind and soul. 

I have enjoyed June.