The spring/early summer is always a whirlwind. Class parties, high school finals, half-days randomly sprinkled in (I used to appreciate these, but as the kids get older, it feels more disruptive than anything!), end-of-year banquets, back-to-back birthday parties, grad parties, the list goes on. I love it all (mostly), but it makes life fly by!
As of now, kids have been out of school for over a week and summer is in full swing. I’m appreciating the slower days, with occasional sprints for summer swim sports (swim team). Get your coffee and get ready for a little life lately here at the Grossman house.
The boys rounded out their 3rd and 6th grade year with their annual school Fine Arts performance.
I always love viewing their art projects and choose one masterpiece per child to frame each year.
Their art teacher is amazing and there is so much creativity displayed!
Lots of musical instruments…
…and vocals. Josiah and his friend sang a duet this year.
We also squeezed in strawberry picking at a local u-pick farm.
Naiya had her track banquet, where she received her second varsity letter (her first was in winter swim). She fell in love with track and it was so fun to watch her accomplish hurdles this year as a freshman.
Alexia celebrated her Sweet 16 birthday!
And two weeks later, Naiya celebrated her 15th birthday!
It is always an accomplishment to plan and execute back-to-back birthdays. Thankfully, both girls decided they wanted the same party plans, so we did double duty with a boat ride to St. Michaels to grab Ava’s pizza and ice cream.
We pulled the kids out of school this year to go watch the Blue Angels fly during the Naval Academy’s graduation week.
We watched by boat for the first time this year, but to be honest, it proved to be more stressful and crowded than watching by land. Nonetheless, it was an awesome performance.
Josiah’s teacher organized an end-of-year student vs parents soccer game, which turned out to be so fun! It was such a creative way to end the year!
The Grossman extended family spent Memorial Day weekend celebrating Ryan’s parents’ 50th wedding anniversary in Pennsylvania.
We rented a big house and made memories.
That following week, the boys had their last day of school!
The week after, the girls had finals and finished their first and second year of high school…
This year went by faster than any other year, Geesh!
One of my favorite things about this season is outdoor dining on our patio. I love going out there in the morning. Such a peaceful, warm and relaxing way to start the day.
We had a long-awaited visit from my mom. #iykyk.
She treated my girls and I to nightly facials (korean skincare is no joke)…
…and offered to spruce up our kitchen and hallways with paint. It was a huge job and it looks like new around here!
I was able to introduce her to my tribe of friends and family. So meaningful.
Last goodbye to Grammy and Pops before the girls headed overseas for a month.
When I took the girls out to the Philippines in March, it birthed this idea of the girls coming back by themselves to a sports camp with our friends that live there. It was a wild idea, but we pushed it forward and they are currently there visiting our Consider the Lily family and reconnecting with the girls there. Then they will move on to our friends’ house and attend a sports camp through their church (which is the same church Ryan and his family attended when they lived there). We are so excited to see what the girls will experience in their time there!
And while the girls are off galavanting halfway across the world, the boys are living their best life! Forging metal…
…tubing and swimming on the boat…
…and not having to worry about the girls eating all of the “good snacks” before they’ve had any (or at least what they deem is their fair share). Side note, after two years of my kids consistently asking if Trader Joe’s had their pickle popcorn back, I finally found it in stock! Words like “miracle” and “best mom ever” were thrown around when I got home from grocery shopping.
Turns out, this was more of a May and June recap of life lately here! I’m off to get a workout in (pilates) and no real plans otherwise!
Happy Summer!
