{A Recap of Our June}

If May felt like a sprint to the finish line of the school year, June finally gave us permission to exhale! Don’t get me wrong! There were still plenty of activities to keep us busy, but the pace felt slower, the evenings felt longer, and we found ourselves settling into all the little rhythms that make summer my favorite season.

One of the biggest highlights was kicking off the month with swimming lessons and tennis. Watching Oren in the water this year has been one of the standouts of the summer. It wasn’t all that long ago that simply getting him into the pool felt like a victory. Fast forward to this summer, and he’s happily swimming underwater and genuinely looking forward to getting in the pool. That little victory feels pretty big!

Liella also discovered a new love this month…tennis! She picked it up so quickly, and it didn’t take long to realize she had found something she truly enjoys. I love watching our kids stumble upon activities that light them up. You never really know what’s going to stick until you give them the opportunity to try, and I have a feeling tennis may be around for a while. She even has me wanting to pick up a racket to play with her!

Of course, no summer month would feel complete without making time for family. We squeezed in a cousin breakfast, and as always, it was one of those simple mornings that reminds me how grateful I am for the relationships our kids are building with their cousins. I want them to look back on these little traditions someday and realize they were some of the best parts of growing up.

The biggest reason I wanted to put this month’s blog together, though, wasn’t because of our calendar. It was because of these photos. Every other year, I try to carve out time to photograph my own kids, and this year’s session might be one of my favorites yet! We kept it simple. Bright summer colors. Popsicles. Old-fashioned root beers. Scooters. And three kids who had way more fun than they expected! Honestly, I think they ingested more sugar than they posed! Somewhere along the way, they even started coming up with their own ideas, suggesting poses and making each other laugh. Those are always my favorite moments…the ones you could never plan because they’re simply kids being kids.

When I look through these images, I don’t just see fun summer photos. I see another June we’ll never get back. I see a boy who’s no longer afraid of the water. A girl discovering a new hobby she loves. Three siblings growing a little taller, a little older, and somehow a little more themselves with each passing summer. It’s easy to think the big vacations or major milestones are what make childhood memorable. But I have a feeling it’s the popsicles on a warm evening, the scooter rides down the driveway, the cousin breakfasts, and the ordinary days of June that they’ll remember most!

And honestly…I think I will too.

Until next month…