Goodbye Summer 2016

Another amazingly eventful summer comes to an end. I'd even venture so far as to say that this was the best summer ever, because...we got married! Hard to top that. Looking back the beginning of summer feels like so long ago because we crammed so many things into the last three months. Here's the highlight reel of a few of my favorite summer moments, and my official goodbye to summer and, I hope, the heat. I've loved summer, it's birthday season for three out of four of us after all, but bring on sweaters and pumpkin patches and long, cozy nights. I'm ready for you fall!

1. Splash pad fun: I was really hoping to fit in some more visits, but, you know, life.
2. Soccer at Stanford.
3. Motocross at the fair: quite possibly Ez's favorite moment of all time. That look on his face gets me every time. Pure joy.
4. 4th of July: We capped off the day with a hike and ended with fire works at the park.
5. Monster Trucks at the fair: Ez didn't have the same look of joy as he did with motocross, but he did talk about this event longer, so maybe it's a tie for best moment of all time in his three year old life.
6. Girl's trip to Lake Tahoe: my bachelorette weekend was basically a good old fashioned sleepover with some gambling and booze thrown in. Perfection.
7. Birthday weekend in Pinecrest: This was our best birthday getaway yet. I'll probably say that every year, but I'll mean it every year too ;)
8. Declan's 1st birthday: The cake was a letdown, but thumbs up for presents and lots of adoring relatives. I think he enjoyed himself overall.
9. We got married!!! I can't write that without exclamation points. I'm sure the novelty will eventually wear off, but hopefully not anytime soon.
10. Wine tasting in Sonoma with ALL the sisters. Five of us. So. much. FUN.
11. San Francisco day trip. We actually did several of these this summer, and sometimes I still pinch myself that we're close enough to visit this amazing city for the day whenever we want.
12. Berkeley with my sis. Thankfully she enjoys wandering around random campuses just as much as we do. Don't knock it till you've tried it.

I thought a few of these were far fetched, but it turns out we did a pretty good job crossing almost all the items off our list. I deliberately held back on the caricatures because I wanted a wedding themed one instead. We had several wonderful kid-free date nights and I'm hoping to continue that trend into fall. Declan's 1st birthday was a tad bittersweet, but overall the best celebration of my littlest man. Ez did great at his first movie theater experience, and Nemo and Dory continue to be his most beloved characters, as well as Declan's. Getting married is obviously my most favorite item on this list, and part of me still can't believe that after all those weeks of anticipation it's already come and gone in a blur of jitters and excitement and pure happiness. Now we get to settle into the best part of the wedding - marriage. So far it feels a lot like our old life, except now Joe wears a ring too ;)