Photos + commentary from the last couple months!
We spent last week in Colorado on our first of two planned vacations this summer. We stayed in a cabin at YMCA of the Rockies in Estes Park and enjoyed several days in Rocky Mountain National Park. We did essentially this same trip last summer and had such a great time that we did it again — and again, we had a great time! We love both the location and the family-friendly nature of the YMCA. Jose and I found ourselves saying things like “maybe next year we can do XYZ” so I think this may end up being a trip we do every year or two for quite a while.
(It is also so, so nice to escape to cooler weather. We came home to above-average June temperatures and 100+ degree heat indexes and I literally wanted to cry.)
Stepping back to May — which was a month was filled with wall-to-wall activities! We went to two Astros games — one for Mother’s Day and one for Jose’s birthday. It was our first time back at the ballpark since 2019 and we all enjoyed it. Jose and I wore our new Space City jerseys! It’s a special edition collection that several MLB teams are doing and I love it.
The end of the school year was both fun and hectic as usual, which Charlotte finishing kindergarten and Emma wrapping up 4th grade. Both kids had end-of-year celebrations. The 4th graders were invited to submit a short speech about what it means to be a leader. Emma worked hard on her submission, and was one of two students chosen to read it at the ceremony! I was pretty proud of her, and more importantly, she seemed proud of herself. It is so great to watch her grow and gain confidence in her own abilities.
Jose and I also celebrated our 13th anniversary and apparently took no photos that day other than this one — because Charlotte’s kinder graduation was the same day! We had lunch together before Charlotte’s ceremony and it felt somehow appropriate that we got to remember our wedding day while also celebrating the 6-year-old who wouldn’t exist if we hadn’t gotten married. It’s also crazy to think that we only have one more year where both kids are in elementary school. Whew!
Another big deal for everyone is that both girls are doing swim team for the first time! I was really hoping I could convince them to give it a try at some point and happily, they are LOVING it. Practices started at the beginning of May. They were held in the evening until school let out, then switched to morning. The morning is tougher on our schedule, but we’ve been making it work. They had their first swim meeting a few weeks ago and while I was dreading the early morning wakeup, it was a really fun event. We missed the second meet while we were in Colorado, so we are all looking forward to another one this weekend.
In a more unexpected twist, both girls have also started taking martial arts classes. After agonizing about what to do for summer childcare, we finally ended up at a local martial arts place recommended by some acquaintances. There is a full day summer camp, and as part of that they had the option to try the classes too. I have ZERO experience or knowledge about martial arts, but I have been really impressed with the instructors and love watching the combination of structure, discipline, kindness, and encouragement that is taught in the classes. Both girls received their white belts (the first one) this week.
Whew! It is approximately a million degrees outside and summer has barely begun, but we are busy and happy and healthy and looking forward to a fun season.
I love the pic of the girls in the their swim meets and swim caps. Our meets are actually weeknights (two this week for a sort of random reason), and so instead of early morning, it’s a late night. Kind of fun, kind of a pain. What I love about swim is that it only lasts a couple of months so you can sort of just do lots of swimming for a bit and then return to your normal life without an all-year commitment like dance or gymnastics or whatever. It’s already half over here.
The meets do take up a large chunk of Saturday, but weeknights — yuck! It must make the week so much more hectic, especially when where are two.
I definitely like how the season is short. It’s intense for two months, but then it’s done. (And our team is pretty flexible, which allows us to scale back the intensity when needed.)