For L Day, we lunched by the lake. Then, we shared a lollipop as we read our library books. When we got home, we cooled off with the lavender limeade light saber pops we made that morning.

I laid out on the blanket enjoying the shade, while Soul and Glow collected rocks and shells. They kept trying to do skip rock on the water, but it never worked, and the rocks ended up making big rock plops instead. We came home with a giant stick and lots of little shells to add to their nature collection.

The very next day, which was our last day together before the big girls came home, we called it M&M Day! I made some cookie butter milkshakes and we cuddled together in bed and watched a movie.

We’ve since done M&M Day with the big girls too. I have a feeling we will be doing lots of M&M days, and will do it on Mondays. I want to find some movies that will go along with what we will be learning during the school year, and we could do this together on Monday afternoons (after all the learning lessons/work is done). I think it will be a good Monday motivator.

Eek. I cringe a little knowing that my brain is starting to get back into school mode. Oh summer, why must you go so fast?!

We’ve got 10 years of this tradition under our belt, and the only reason we go to the fair is to keep this tradition going. We love the photo booth, and we make sure to get a photo of our family taken outside of it when we are done. It’s been the same lady manning it for the last several years (and the one who takes this family photo) and she always remembers us. She says, “That’s right! The family with all girls!” Here are some things I noticed about this newest family photo versus the previous years…

Glow is wearing the striped dress that Soul wore in 2013 and 2015, and True wore in 2012.

Ben is wearing the same exact outfit from last year. The shorts are covered up by the girls, but they are indeed the same ones. Therefore, it’s the same shorts 4 years in a row.

While his clothes never change, his hair does.

True’s the one wearing glasses now. Hers are prescription versus Brave’s faux glasses from the previous years.

Second year in a row, no baby in our arms. That’s cause we are out of the baby stage for good (at least as far as our plans are). Glow makes sure we all know she is the baby for life.

The girls are wearing no hats this year.

I’m always standing to the left of Ben; I like this side better. lol

Anything stand out to you regarding this year’s photo? Read last year’s comparison’s here.

The girls have been busy making birthday presents for Brave. Getting sick yesterday threw my projects off a bit, but I got back on track today. The girls have this long list of handmade presents they plan to make, but I’m trying to tell them to slow down and not stress about making her a lot of things. These girls are really serious about handmade presents. I helped with one thing (it involved sewing), but everything else is their own creation. They go to town crafting presents, and I allow them to use whatever supplies they want in my office (sometimes I regret it later), but the main rule is that they must clean up after themselves.

I’ll share their final creations once they are given to the birthday girl.

Ben and I got to sneak in a little date on Saturday. My parents had the girls for the weekend because Ben and I had a wedding to attend Saturday evening. Actually, our date kind of started at 5am Saturday morning. We woke up early to have a little gardening date together before it got too hot. We are in the process of turning our front lawn into a drought tolerant one. We took a break at 8am to go to the Modernica factory sale to pick up a light, and then we came home right after to get more work done on our lawn. It was super hot by this time, but we kept taking lots of breaks to hydrate and rest. We took out about half of the grass and still have another half left to go until we are completely grass free.

We called it quits around 1:30pm and headed inside to get ready for the wedding. After being dirty and dusty from all the yard work, I think we cleaned up pretty nicely. I played florist for the wedding and made all the bouquets and boutonnieres for the bridal party (see bride’s bouquet here), so after we dropped off all the flowers, we headed to my favorite ice cream spot for our little date. A la Minute was only 5 minutes away from the wedding venue (and we had extra time before the wedding started), so stopping for ice cream was a must.

Ben and I ordered a medium salted caramel (he think we should have done the small, but I always go for the medium). We found a nice shaded bench outside and happily savored our ice cream (and time) together. This guy doesn’t really care much for sweets, but he does have a weak spot for this ice cream. While I’m sweet on ice cream, I’m extra sweet on my Benny.

I’m thankful for the covenant of marriage with Ben, a little alone time together, and for ice cream. All sweet things.

on me: jumpsuit, gap (similar here). heels, banana republic (from over 10 years ago, sometimes it is still worth it to save things). yellow slides, banana republic. 1940’s collapsible bamboo purse, ebay (another available here and here). on ben: top and pants, j. crew mercantile. vintage tie.

vintage straw macrame bag

vintage sisal macrame bag

vintage macrame market bag

vintage macrame with wooden dowels

macrame market bag

My favorite types of bags are vintage carpet/tapestry bags and basket type bags. I’d put these macrame bags in the basket bag category and I love each and every one of the bags above. I’m not a designer bag type of gal (though that last one is made by a talented artist, so it is made with love, and a definite splurge), but I’d much rather have something vintage. Every time I go thrifting, I always check the bag section hoping to come across some vintage macrame bag. One time I did find one, but figured I didn’t “need” it (it was $8 and I thought a little pricey for the thrift store), so I passed on it. I regret not scooping that one up. Oh well, I’ll be patient and hope I come across another cool one someday. If you’re looking for a macrame bag (and aren’t a thrifter), I’d say pick up one of the ones above so they stop tempting me in my Etsy favorites.

The whole gang is back together again! After six weeks apart, they greeted each other with gigantic smiles and even bigger hugs. I shed happy tears to have our family back together again.

When I was growing up, it was a tradition in my family when someone left on a trip, and then came back home, we made welcome home signs. We’ve continued that on in our own Bratcher family, so Soul, Glow, and I prepared some pictures and banners for True and Brave. Not only did they get a big, exuberant, happy greetings at the airport, but we also made sure our home declared that same message too. We are very happy to have them back home!