This has been one of my most memorable summers ever. Our little family filled it up with hours upon hours at the playground, trips to the beach, Friday strolls through the farmers market, walks with the dog, regional travel {and bigger trips for Alex} and a whole slew of new experiences. When you step back and look at it, many of the experiences with Ben were pretty standard and low-key, and even so, they were so memorable for me. We kicked off summer with a bang out in Leavenworth where we celebrated Ben’s first birthday over Memorial Day weekend.
One of my favorite summer Friday traditions became going to Madison Park, the neighborhood just to the north of ours, and either hitting the beach or the playground {often both!}, stopping at the bakery for mama’s coffee and to grab some pastries for Saturday morning. Then we’d go down to the farmers market in the afternoon and pick up some produce and gorgeous flowers.
When summer started, Ben was a pro-crawler who loved going in the swings at the park. Quickly he warmed up to the sandbox and grew to love playing in the sand and observing the big trucks or other older kids.
By the end of the summer Ben knew how to walk so he was able to cruise around independently at the park. He began to climb the play structures, push around the dump trucks or the tricycle, and still has a soft spot for the swing. We continuously say that the playground has become our second home. We spent close to 2 hours per day there – we are so grateful to have such a nice playground so close to our house.
His favorite park past time, though, still remains playing with the wood chips… And yes, he is generally without one shoe. I don’t understand how he can get his shoe off so quickly. One time I counted that I put it back on 13 times before I gave up.
We didn’t make it out on too many hikes this summer, but the ones we did get on were great! We love our new hiking backpack and look forward to getting plenty of use out of it.
Per usual, we squeezed in some travel. Alex attended three bachelor parties and had some travel for work, so he wins the award for the most summer trips. Ben and I met Alex up in Vancouver for a night, which was a real highlight for me. Otherwise, Alex and I took a trip just the two of us to Sonoma, then we had a family trip to Seabrook, Washington.
Ben became quite fond of water over the summer. We spent many a day on the beach, at an outdoor pool or a kids wading pool or in our backyard playing with the kiddie pool or splash pad. Ben loves to splash around and appears to be fearless. I’m hoping to get him into a swimming program this fall.
Ben also got to go on his first boat ride this summer! He seemed to really enjoy it and everyone who was there agreed we had never seen him be so still.
Summer is unofficially ending today… I will always look back so, so fondly on the many memories our little family created together. This was a summer to remember forever.
