A Summer to Remember

Well it's the middle of August and summer is almost a memory now, but what a wonderful memory it will be! If you are wondering where I have been for the past few weeks and why there hasn't been a post in quite some time it's because I have been busy making memories. Summer is a special time of year for my family. It's the time when we all come together to spend time with each other, get caught up on kids and family and look forward to the year ahead. I have four sisters and as the years go by and our kids get older, getting  together is not as easy as it used to be. There are cross country flights, work and sports schedules, college and school preparation and lots of other variables that make family gatherings a challenge. But...somehow we do it. One way or another we make it happen. We gather together and overlap vacations so that we can spend at least some time together.

This year our gathering place was at our family home at the beach. It's everyone's favorite place. We were in and out and all over the place. There were kids on air mattresses and in bunk beds, and there were so many cars at one point that we were told we were taking over the street. We will laugh about that one forever! The bottom line is that I come from a family that will go to great lengths to spend time together, and for that I am grateful. We simply love being in the same place at the same time. And don't get me wrong, we have our share of "this is crazy" and "there are too many of us now" or even "I might not do this again," but after we all go home and summer is over, we will all have a day where we find sand in a beach bag or look at pictures that we've taken and we get on the phone and start planning for summer all over again. It's who we are and I love that!

So after weeks filled with family, food, travel, crazy fun and lot of laughs, I am full of gratitude and great memories and will hang onto that until next summer rolls around. I hope you are doing something you love this summer too! You still have a few weeks left so take advantage of the season while you can and live it up! It won't last forever! As for me, I am going to get back to work so I can bring you some fun new recipes, back to school ideas and more! Stay tuned because it's going to be a great fall!

Leslie xoxo