Happy Tuesday everyone! I hope you all had a great weekend. Mine was absolutely wonderful. After run club on Saturday morning, I hopped in the car and headed up to my parents lake home. 3 of my 4 siblings were there and my niece and all of my nephews were there! We had the best time. The weather was absolutely perfect, so we were outdoors all day, besides watching the men's gymnastics on Saturday night. And to sleep of course! We ate well, relaxed in the sun, celebrated my oldest nephew's birthday, and just soaked up the time together. I made some progress on a new scarf I'm knitting, and I read quite a bit of my book. So all in all, it was a wonderful weekend. I was so sad to see it end! But luckily I will be back there next weekend!
I'll let the pictures really do the talking for how awesome my weekend was!
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| Sometimes I am dismissive of the beauty of the midwest - but it's out there, and I was reminded of it on my drive on Saturday when I encountered a beautiful field of sunflowers! Of course the picture doesn't do it justice! |
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| We all ate al fresco - even the kiddos! |
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| I love my little red-headed nephews! I think Charlie is going to look a lot like James - but with curly hair! |
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| We celebrated James's 8th birthday. Getting Andrew, James, and Matthew to all look at the same camera at the same time was impossible!! |
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| I snatched my niece Anna from my sister-in-law's arms the minute she walked in the house! I hadn't seen my brother Chad and his family for 8 months so I was VERY excited to see this little lady!! |
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| Anna and Charlie are 4 months apart but are basically the same size! They played together pretty well at first... |
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| But then Anna got a little bit aggressive - which Charlie did NOT like. She's trying to sort of ride on his back in this photo! |
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| James and Kolin (Kolin is Anna's brother) were up early the next morning. The boys had hot cocoa, mom and I had coffee. :) |
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| I think Anna will be walking VERY soon! |
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| Grandpa and Anna! |
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| By the time I got home Sunday night at 9:30, I felt as tired as Charlie looks in this photo. All that time outdoors wears a person out! And yes, I have a million freckles... and they are not small and cute - they are big blotches. Oh well, I can't avoid, so I just embrace them!! |
Like I said, it was a wonderful weekend and I feel like I truly relaxed this weekend. Don't get me wrong - I have had an enjoyable summer and have relaxed, but my pending CFA results were always in the back of my mind... It's kind of like waiting to really, truly exhale for 7+ weeks. It's nice to put that exam in my past and focus on enjoying my freedom!
My only regret is not getting a photo of Anna and my 5 nephews!! They aren't all together very often so I am kicking myself for missing this opportunity to get a picture. Hopefully we'll all be back together for Thanksgiving or Christmas.
Do you have freckles? If so, do you like them? If not, do you wish you had freckles? I have always just sort of accepted the fact that I have freckles so am sort of ambivalent about them. But when people see me in person I get a lot of - 'whoa, you have a lot of freckles' comments! I am a little bit envious of my little sister as she has this cute dusting of little freckles instead of blotches like I have!
I have freckles and I like them :)
ReplyDeleteAlso, I think it's Kolin (the one on the right in the hot cocoa picture) but he looks so much like you to me (minus the hair color ha ha).
Glad you had such a relaxing weekend! Without the Cape I feel like I have definitely been missing vacations where you just chill out.
I have freckles and I love them! They're most prominent on my shoulders (I think from all the sun there over the years),- I'm glad you embrace yours!
ReplyDeleteGREAT photos!
I have freckles and I feel similarly to you in that I don't really notice them until people comment on them! I like my freckles overall though :)
ReplyDeleteI've ALWAYS wanted to go to a sunflower field! I'm super jealous!
I have freckles, lots of them! I have a love/hate relationship with them though. I wish the sun wouldn't give me more in the summer. If I could have the amount that I have in the winter, I would be okay.
ReplyDeleteYou had a great weekend!! I love that you have your parents lakehouse to go to for a retreat!
Your weekend sounds fantastic- I love that you got to spend lots of time with your big family. I always wished, growing up, that I'd had more siblings. I *hope* that I won't be scared out of having more than 1 or 2 when the time comes, because big families have always been my dream!
ReplyDeleteI think your freckles are super cute. I don't really have very many but they definitely come out in the sun and some people tend to notice at that point!
I love freckles. My mom has LOTs of freckles (red hair + freckles), and while she doesn't like them, I think they are beautiful. In fact, had you not called out your freckles, when I looked at the picture I thought, "Look at those GORGEOUS freckles!"
ReplyDelete*So fun you were able to have a nice weekend with your family.
**Will you do a post some time on some of your finished knitting pieces? I just started a baby blanket this weekend, but always love looking at other's crafts. :)
Glad to hear you had a great weekend! My weekend was pretty darn good too :-)
ReplyDeleteI don't have freckles, but I always wished that I did. I think they are super cute. My sister used to draw freckles on herself, lol!
I don't think I ever noticed all your freckles. Do you wear make-up to hide them? I have freckles, but not really on my face. Mostly on my arms. They especially come out when I get a little color from the sun.
ReplyDeleteI love the red haired boys! So cute. I have a lot of freckles and I used to hate them but now I've just accepted them. I just make sure I wear lots of sunscreen all the time so I don't get even more!
ReplyDeleteThere is such a thing as too much family for one weekend, but that might be reserved for in-laws. ha! That looks like a lot of fun.
ReplyDeleteLooks like you had such a great weekend - and you look so relaxed! You must be relaxed since you stayed until 9:30 Sunday night! That is awesome!
ReplyDeleteAnna is so cute! Believe it or not, I still haven't met her. Breaks my heart! This is the hardest part of living far away.
I think your sun-kisses are gorgeous -- and much less intense than you see them on yourself.
And freckles are a sign of living! I have lost most of mine -- since we've returned I've spent most of my time in a hospital, or indoors at a gym cycling :(
No freckles on my face. Some on my arms but that's about it.
ReplyDeleteYou have such a photogenic family; love when you share photos with us!
I love your freckles. Elle is getting a bunch but on the top of her head. so weird
ReplyDeleteThe photo of you and Anna is so sweet. What a little ham :)
Looks like such a wonderful weekend with family!
ReplyDeleteI have TONS of freckles. And not just on my face, on my chest, arms, legs. haha. I guess it's part of being a redhead :)
Awww, what a fun time with your family! And all the cute redheads :)
ReplyDeleteI have freckles, too (or I get them when i am in the sun a lot). I actually like them because I otherwise don't tan. :)
What a lovely weekend. I seriously cannot even handle Charlie's red curls - too cute!
ReplyDeleteI don't have freckles and I don't particularly want them as I think they'd look odd on my olive skin, but I love them on other people.
That looks like fun! I love the redheads! So cute. I have freckles and I used to HATE them as a kid. In the summer time they get bigger and bigger the more time I spend out in the sun! Now, they don't bug me anymore; I am who I am!
ReplyDeleteI can't believe how big your niece has gotten!
Sounds perfect!!! Those kids are so cute!!
ReplyDeleteLove this post with all of the pictures of the kids. So cute and so great that they are able to be together at the lake.
ReplyDeleteIsn't family time the best? And those are some of the cutest kids I've ever seen.
ReplyDeleteFreckles -- oh, I'd love freckles. I used to draw them on with pale brown marker and blend them into my make up so I'd look frecked. They looked pretty good on me, too!