Little Glimpses of Summer

I uploaded a bunch of pictures from my phone this morning and wanted to make sure to preserve some of the goodness of summer here on the blog.
There was that one fun night when our friend Jeff stopped by on his motorcycle and Nate and I took it for a spin around the loop.  So fun and romantic to squeeze your lover in the seat of a speeding bike!
And that one morning when Henry wanted to make pancakes all by himself.  He thought he was pretty hot stuff with his fancy flipping.  By the end of the meal he was talking about how maybe when he grows up he'd like to open up a breakfast restaurant.  He thought he could probably "make a pretty good amount of money cooking breakfast for people."
That one day when we put Caroline's crazy hair into the funniest little pig tails.  We sure got a good laugh out of that!
There were many, many afternoons cooling off in Mimi's pool.  Sometimes with cousins or friends.
There was a special breakfast at Mustard Seed with my big kids - one last hurrah before I sent them back to school.
There was a family adventure to Applegate Lake...not exactly the dream day at the lake we imagined (it was really hot and smoky, the lake was super low, Caroline is pretty much at the worst age for a day at the lake) -- but we had a yummy lunch picnic and did some swimming and exploring in the lake.  And it is always good to be together and attempt something out of the ordinary.
And probably my favorite thing of all about summer is just the chance to go slow, especially in the evenings.  I love not having to rush the kids through homework and bedtime and next-day prep.  I love the long evenings outside or snuggling in the nest with books and popcorn and pajamas.  The kids are already loving school and I'm fine with the change back into a routine, but I do love and miss the slowness of summer.