June Recap

We had a busy June...what else is new!

Onyx enjoying his favorite activity...Zzzz

It is World Cup month! Scored a free coozy from Starbucks. My little state of NJ is "co-hosting" with NY as one of the USA FIFA World Cup locations. My town is the training grounds for team Brazil, and I drive past the training facility every day while on my way into work or dropping the kids off to daycare/camp. 

C finished pre-K and attended his move up ceremony. He had the best teachers this past school year and learned so much from them. He'll be going to a new school next year and had his Kindergarten screening to place him into the appropriate class assignment in September. 

We went to a summer family day event hosted by W's workplace. There was a BBQ buffet, unlimited frozen treats, paddle boats, and pool swimming. It was very hot but the kids had so much fun. 

W picked up an amazing find on our local buy nothing fb group. Years ago we looked into this same exact gym set for baby C but the cost was a bit much for a toy. It is perfect for T's age now and she's been enjoying it thoroughly. 

We were invited to two birthday parties in the same weekend on the same day. I took T to the first party which was held at a local farmyard. She really loved feeding the cows! 

C's cute family drawing for Father's Day. I love that he gave Onyx a smile haha

C started summer camp the last week of the month. We were a little nervous with how it would go since it is a first for everyone but he loved it and even got an award for being top camper of the week. The winning camper is selected by the director and other camp staff for having a positive attitude, outstanding sportsmanship, and the type of person everyone enjoys being around. Ngl...I had a proud mama moment. 

The first of two annual puzzle swaps that I host also took place this month. I was so busy having fun and catching up with everyone that I didn't remember to take a photo...oops. It was well attended and I had many willing hands helping me setup and breakdown that we were in and out and less than 2 hours. I appreciate my local puzzle community so much. 

Whenever I try to take photos of my dog, he becomes velcro. So 90% of my photos end up like this: 

We did a little better here! 

Summer Spa Mornings

We had beautiful weather this past weekend and what better way to enjoy it than a family trip to the barn.

Quest was in the lower pasture with the rest of the herd so it was a bit of a trek to get her. Thankfully she has always been easy to catch though and never gives me any trouble or antics. I'm grateful for a good mare. 

I gave her a nice grooming session while her boyfriend posse waited for her behind the fence. 

Asides from the additional white hairs on her forehead, she's looking very good for a soon-to-be 22yo. Her birthday is later this month. 

I also trimmed her feet. They were in good shape though rock solid (not a bad thing) so I definitely got a workout. It was getting very warm out by the time I finished so we finished off with a bath and dried off with some quality hand grazing. She's held her weight well during the winter and is certainly living her best life. 

That side-eye...

Pretty post-bath dapples and a nice round butt lol

May Recap

After a long and cold spring, temps are finally starting to warm up and the evenings are getting longer! We've been trying to get in as much outdoors time as possible in between the jam-packed weekends. More often than not, it has been back-to-back events too so its been hard to just sit and relax. 

We started off the month with our long-awaited family cruise to Bermuda! We booked this trip last year in November during a Black Friday deal. We were so busy last summer with buying, moving, selling homes that we were too tired at the end of all of it to think about vacation. We did do small local getaways trip but really, nothing beats getting away for a week and not having to worry about meals or chores!  

The kids being ultimate tourists studying maps and carrying their little backpacks.
People got a chuckle at their studiousness as they walked by.

The sand was so soft and a beautiful pink hue.
It was a little gray to start the day but the sun came out in full force eventually.

This is the raw photo and the colors are already stunning.
No filters were applied to any of these photos. 

We attempted to do at least one meal in the dining hall each day and were successful!
A long, drawn-out meal with children can be quite trying but they are such good kids <3
This was one of my entree choices for dinner. I'm not a real foodie, but this I had to get a photo.
It tasted as good as it looked! 

Our new town has a free soccer club for kids aged 5-6 and C was finally old enough to join the spring co-ed team. His jersey number (randomly given) makes me laugh everytime I see it. C really seems to enjoy soccer so we have him signed up again for the fall as well. 

We participated in our neighborhood/town-wide garage sale. It happens every other year and is apparently quite a highly anticipated event. Our neighborhood association handed out little price sticker tags, shopping maps, and even set up all the signs to advertise. The event lasted all day. We could only set up for about 2-3 hours and were still pretty successful with sales! 

The kids were invited to THREE birthday parties this month, so we basically had a party every single weekend lol They were always so much fun though and it is rewarding seeing our kids make connections and build up their own little community. 

Onyx has been home with us for about 6 months. He is SO clever and picks up on routines/patterns quick. In other words, he knows exactly what to do but often opts for "selective" obedience especially during mealtimes. If there is food involved, he is game on. 

With summer quickly approaching, I do hope to continue these monthly recaps even as our days (and nights) get more and more busy.

Hopefully a reader (or two) is enjoying the posts as much as I enjoy putting these together. It is always amazing to see just how much life has happened in just a single month; definitely something worth celebrating and remembering! 

April Recap

This month's recap post is happening a little earlier, but our days and weeks have been so packed that honestly just a small snippet is enough here lol 

We had several glorious breaks in the cold and enjoyed more time outside together as a family and with close friends. 

C had spring break week so we all took a couple days off together. 
We checked out a new play gym on the cold rainy day. 

We stopped by a local nature center as well and really enjoyed it! 

Family barn weekend!
I spent a long time grooming and shedding out Quest's winter fuzz. 

Cookies, please? 
Quest is doing SO good and handled this past winter very well. I will forever lament how hard it has been to find a closer barn though. I've been searching since last July. Nothing suitable has turned up and I have actually been ghosted by several barns...but I'm a firm believer that the right doors open when they should. 

Nice weather = more zoo trips and more animals out on display. 
We finally saw the baby lion cubs after missing out so many times. 

We enjoyed a really nice day at Legoland during opening week and got perfect weather.
The kids were braver for the rides this time which makes me very excited for future theme park trips.

I happened to see this gem one evening during daycare pickup. 
My son is a literal poster child for reducing paper towel waste haha

Baby girl T had her royal princess-themed birthday party. 
This was her first "venue" party and we wanted to make it special.
I made the cupcakes and think they turned out pretty nice (: 

Bring Your Child to Work Day 2026 
My husband's company has an office location in One World Trade. 
The kids ate fancy snacks all day and now think that's what their dad does all day lol 

<3

My kids helping me clean up around the house. 
They do their best and I appreciate it. 

More kid birthday parties!
This playgym had a ton of super cool climbing features. 
C was brave and tried pretty much everything at least once. I was very proud of him.

Our local environmental center had it's annual Earth Day Celebration. 
They usually bring in a bunch of vendors, including a petting zoo. 
T got a pony ride and said hi to all the animals -
but what she really loved was feeding the 3-month old baby goats. 

Rewind: Trail Riding in Spain

My husband finally decided to tackle sorting through his years of junk e-mail and stumbled on pure gold. 

A fellow trail rider had taken took a few photos of our group in Barcelona while riding in Montserrat and actually also remembered to send them to us. They aren't the best quality, but they capture a very special time and moment for us. It was a beginner level ride but I got paired up with a super cute chestnut Arab mare named Mariposa which made it more fun for me. 

It was so nice to look back and remember what an amazing time we had on our honeymoon almost SEVEN years ago! Our life looks very different now, but not any less amazing.