Feeling patriotic!

Even though summer doesn't officially begin until June 21st, the unofficial start to the summer in my books is Memorial Day Weekend!  And man, oh man, was it a beauty!

I regret having to divide and conquer our weekend and I especially regret missing out on spending the weekend on the lake, but it made more sense for me and Evan to stay behind.  Scott and Sean left Thursday evening to head up north to help Scott's parents move from one lake house to their new one about 20 minutes away from the previous house.  A full weekend of moving and rearranging sounded like a good weekend for me to catch up with my parents and friends.

Evan and I had our fair share of the sun and the water.  Well, if you count a kiddie pool and a hot tub as the water.

We dined with my parents on Friday at Rochester Mills for half off appetizers during happy hour, grabbed ice cream from the Dairy Treat, and soaked in the hot tub.

Saturday was a play date at the park with my best friend, Trisha, and her kids, Reese and Aaron.  A lazy afternoon and a BBQ for dinner rounded off another great day.

Sunday, my mom and I grabbed breakfast out with Evan before heading to the zoo.  The animals were as active as can be and the polar bears put on a great show!

After the winter we've had I can't even believe I'm saying this, but it was hot.  By 11am it was time to go home and get out of the sun!  And let's face it.  With Evan waking up at 6am every.single.morning of my long weekend, everyone was ready for a nap.

I needed to head back home for a get-together with some work friends that evening, so I met up with my friend, Kristen, for lunch on the patio at my favorite spot: Tavern on the Main.  I rushed home to quickly set up and shower for my party and then it was girl's night!

Every time I get the opportunity to spend an evening with friends, I'm reminded of how much I miss getting to spend more time with all these ladies.  We had such a great time playing Cards Against Humanity and taking rounds of shots!

The downside to a night out:  Having to wake up early to go and pick up Evan.  It wasn't a hangover; it was the 5 hours of sleep from the night before taking a toll on me the next day.  But, Evan and I survived Memorial Day together playing out in the kiddie pool, having a BBQ, and watching Frozen.  And then the rest of my family came home just in time for baths and bedtime!  There's nothing quite like those snuggles from a certain 3 year old who missed his mommy for four days!

This week is my seniors last week of school and final exams.  I can't believe it's that time already!  It's probably the first school year that I'm not anxiously awaiting their departure.  I'm going to miss some of these kids!  With graduation next week, the all-night party, the senior breakfast, and many other work obligations, I'll be a busy bee!

Tomorrow morning is my appointment with an orthopedic surgeon to assess the status of my back since it's been 10 years since my surgery and I've been experiencing some pretty bad lower back pain.  I can't live off Advil and Motrin forever!  I'm definitely nervous about the results.

A beautiful flowering tree in my parent's backyard.

And oh my gosh, there's 3 weeks from today that we'll be leaving for Portland and that means less than 3 weeks until Father's Day!  There's so much to do from now until then to get everything ready for both Father's Day and our vacation, so I'm off to Etsy to order Scott's present from the boys....a t-shirt car track so he can have the boys give him back scratches!  Curious...check it out!

Canon Beach, OR

Multnomah Falls, OR