And so it begins

God, I love this time of year. It is amazing how far sunny, warm weather goes toward improving my mood on a daily basis.

It's not as difficult to get out of bed most mornings.

We sleep with the windows open and wake up to the sounds of birds chirping.

I kick off the covers and stretch in the cool, crisp air, inhaling it deeply through my nose.

It's glorious. And don't even get me started on how nice it has been to spend so much time outdoors. The finishing touches on our kitchen renovation have been pushed aside day after day as we find excuses to do things in the sun outside. Lawn mowing and garden planting, and trips to the farmer's market and gardening center.

Not to mention the summer clothes for toddler girls that I get to break out of the closet.

Love. it.

Last weekend, we had Hunter's birthday party, which was just a portion of a Saturday that was perfection. The weather, the agenda, the company we kept... perfection.

 

Hunter is THREE! (Well, not officially until tomorrow.) Check out the big guy blowing out his candle. Cuteness.

Nora was on the cupcakes like white on rice. Girlfriend has built-in radar that lets her know if dessert is within a 50 ft. radius. She's her mama's daughter, that's for sure. She ate this entire thing by herself.

At one point, Nora found the coloring table and crayons, and proceeded to spend a half an hour sitting there, testing out each of the colors with a little squiggly line on the paper. I really had no idea that she even enjoys coloring at this age (except for how she plays with sidewalk chalk). Whoops. Sorry for stifling your creativity, kid.

 

One of Hunter's gifts was a bubble machine...

 

...which led to several minutes of bubble chasing.

 

It was such a good day.

 

I'm hoping for much more of the same for this Memorial Day weekend. Enjoy the long weekend with your families and friends. Here's hoping for time outdoors, colorful photos, lots of sunshine and laughs, and maybe a few beers.

 

It's the unofficial kickoff of summer, y'all. And I'm totally in my element.