a summer week in the country

we took two trips back to my hometown in the midwest in june and enjoyed the simple days together – spent swimming in the pool, s’mores and stories around a campfire, watching the sun set to the west + the stars shine above, smoked meat and hometown pizza and ice cream cones, country music and most of all, catching up with all the people we love and who love us. i can always feel the love. apart from the infinite exhaustion, we have been loving our travels this spring and summer. throughout this year, our kids have traveled around 180+ hours in the car on road trips – and have rocked them all. they don’t always sleep the best when we arrive, but we really have the best little travelers. 

my grandma, yolanda

i will never forget her reaction when i walked in …. she was so happy and surprised and is just so beautiful. we had the best afternoon celebrating her turning 90! 

and to my aunt cheryl | you outdid yourself. the time, creativity, and heart you poured into this event did not go unnoticed. thank you. and for always supporting all of us with your incredible ability to love others – you are so special. 

this guy ate all the snacks and played on a toy car for hours and hours.

yellow roses are her favorite . they mean ‘friendship’ and are also my momma’s fave

the next day we celebrated my uncle john and his fifty years as a catholic priest 

he has a genuine heart and spoke about the importance of love in the world, for all people. and about our family tradition of hospitality, which originated on the family farmhouse- around their kitchen table. a combination of my grandpa’s deep work ethic and my grandma’s tender gentleness…

it was a lovely day and such a heartfelt celebration.

my adorable nephew, julius imoh

nash charlie was all about exploring the pool house

he is so close to walking / walks across rooms at the moment

st. augustine . minster, ohio

my niece and her spirit. 

she loves life and shines so brightly

i spent so much time with her that week and miss her daily

an afternoon of thrifting (without my boys) was such a treat

a new collection will be added to ‘olive june vintage’ soon

a fourth of july craft poolside 

take a paper towel holder and cut it in half

fray the ends using a scissors 

at their ages, the star stickers were the biggest hit!

i never could have imagined just how much parks would love his baby brother

how precious is she?

 i just could not love her more

cousins 

it feels so good to be back home in this space, i must admit. 

while this blog post is just a recap of one of our travels (and i hope to share more of our travels soon), it also has me incredibly inspired to begin again- writing, sharing stories, photos, pieces of our life together. 

i have so much i want to do here. 

and to you reading: thank you, beautiful one.

thank you.