A MORNING AT THE RIVER

Yay! The river!

My friend Laura told us about this great spot she discovered on the James River last week and we all happened to be free on the same morning, so we made a spontaneous trip to the river on Saturday morning. (Spontaneous here means not planned weeks in advance. Ha.)

It was beautiful and this particular spot was the perfect haven for both children and adults (and dogs!) to play. It was one of those moments that felt like it could go on forever without any complaint from any of us. We've been having many moments like that this summer.  Being so close to the river, amongst the trees, I felt untethered and held. And afterwards, we were all exhausted in the way only a walk in the woods, time in the sun, and warm water can do to you.

Since we were waddling around in the river I didn't take my big camera with me, so here are some from my phone. I love that we live near such great a river system and parks that we get to explore with the kids.

CELEBRATING JULY BIRTHDAYS IN SILVER SPRING

Both Logan and I were born in July, and my dad and my brother-in-law also have birthdays in July! Along with my sister-in-law, Amy, that is five July birthdays in the family. And then me and my two sisters all got married in the summer, so we have three wedding anniversaries around this time, and then Sloane's birthday comes up first week of August. There is so much to celebrate in the summer; another reason why this season is my favorite.

A couple of weekends ago, after my dad flew in from Korea to D.C., we all met at my sister Eunice's place to celebrate together. We were just there for the day, but that time felt so precious and we made sure there were enough candles on the cake to celebrate all the things.

We met up for lunch at Busboys and Poets in the Takoma Park area, which I didn't know had so much character. We had a great time eating lunch and then wandering around the neighborhood to explore afterwards.

Back at my sister's place, we had drinks, snacks, cake and presents! 

Later in the afternoon, we went out to downtown Silver Spring to walk around and have dinner together before heading back home.

I'm so grateful to my parents for making the trip over here each time so that we can all be together!