School is out, lightning bugs are here, and it’s 90 degrees every day this week, all of which make it officially summer regardless of what the calendar says. We’ve been making the most of it already with the help of Gia and Jackson – it’s fun to watch them learn to love summer and I get so excited thinking about all of the fun P is going to have when she’s old enough to get it.

On our way home from Alabama we stopped for one night in Nashville at my parents’ house. Ian and Andi and the kids were there for Memorial Day Weekend – a rare event for my parents to have all the kids and grandkids under one roof for a night and a morning! Since this is a pics-or-it-didn’t-happen type of blog, I made sure to document all the cuteness.

Last week we celebrated Javier’s birthday with Ian, Andi, and the kids at Cold Stone – a summer favorite for all of us. Then this past weekend we took a day trip to Frankfort with Marian and Stephen to tour the church where Marian is a pastor and retrieve a magnolia log from the church’s yard for Javier to use in his wood shop. While we were out there we visited the biggest plant nursery I’ve ever seen. If you’re ever in the Frankfort area and consider yourself a plant person I highly recommend checking this place out. Javier finally found lemon verbena for his garden and I know we’ll be going back for more!