The Vance's: the 4th at the beach.

Well, better late than never! How the heck is it already the end of July?!? Summer is halfway over and I feel like it just started. Every year this happens and I just shake my head that my favorite season flies by so quickly.

June was super busy with Simon's 1st birthday, the end of soccer season, the end of school/preschool, my birthday and making our summer bucket list. And then Matt left for a week of fishing with his dad and brother. I'm so glad he had the opportunity to go spend some guy time with family, relax for a while, get away from his busy work schedule and catch some huge fish! They stayed in this beautiful cabin in a remote village somewhere in the middle of nowhere (seriously) and even though a few days weren't the best weather to catch fish, overall they had a successful week.

While Matt was gone me and the kids had a busy (but fun!) week. I took them to the beach one day, out for a froyo treat another day, played in the swimming pool and had a playdate with friends. Weeks Matt is gone are never easy and I feel like I can never catch up or relax but mentally I push through and the kids are so patient and understanding. Plus, if I schedule fun things for us to do it makes the time go by so much faster!

To prep for our 4th of July weekend away I decided to make a berry cobbler too....so yummy!

The day before we left for the beach house for 4 days the kids had a playdate with some of our best friends. Even though I had 6 kids to watch it somehow was easier since they all entertained each other. 1 hour spent playing hide and seek (yep...one whole hour in our non-gigantic house...so funny!), 1 hour outside and 1 hour of legos/snacks/dancing. Love these kids! I gulped down some extra coffee since I was running on little sleep after day 4 of single parenting and had a million things to pack for the weekend. But coffee on our deck while kids play and a baby naps...not so bad!

We finally arrived at the beach house and began to relax. Kids pulled out their favorite toys while Simon wandered around. And around. And around! Oh my goodness...he is now officially in the "good thing I'm cute because I'm going to get into everything because I'm curious and this is how I learn but I'm so so so so so so busy" phase. Whew!

Matt and the boys got home late Saturday night just in time to take over some parenting duties. We spent the next morning on the beach exploring which is always fun for everyone.

More playtime outside!

An early morning run around the neighborhood with my favorite running buddy. I sort of love waking up early and taking this little one with me for a workout while the rest of the family sleeps. Plus the view isn't too bad either!

And then the 4th! The kids had so many patriotic outfits I think they were able to wear some version of red, white and blue every day that weekend!

We then got ready for the 2nd annual neighborhood parade. Last year we weren't too prepared but this year we made up for it. Flags, glasses, leis, necklaces and even a bubble machine strapped to Lucy's bike!