museum of ice cream, round 2!

it's rare something is as good as you remember it, but this is one of those times. we first visited the museum of ice cream in 2016 before pop-ups were a thing-- i think it was the first of its kind, really. we've never gone back because it was so fun back then & i assumed it couldn't be as great. (plus it's expensive.) and my kids rarely agree on anything these days but harvey asked, and he'd never been (he wasn't even a glimmer back when we visited last time! elle was harvey's age!)... so the day before school started, we went first thing (it's cheaper first thing).

it. was. amazing.

way too much ice cream, and a lot of cotton candy, all before breakfast, and somehow no one was ill. (we have a high tolerance i suppose:)

our first visit to the museum of ice cream-- back when it was a pop-up in TWENTY SIXTEEEEN-- here!

here's the film from our morning...

memorial day weekend - film from the beach

some film from our rockaway beach day on memorial day weekend. 

it's tradition to go to the beach as a family on the first official weekend of summer, and i adore it, even if it means delayed trains and grumpy kids en-route. 

this year we bought a beach ball which, turns out, is actually the perfect beach toy. 

we also stopped for a couple of bags of junk food (as we always do) before hitting the sand. 

harvey looked for seashells, elle practiced her long jump, and jude played soccer via beach ball. 

it was perfect.

summer vacay in utah

we just got back from 15 days in utah! so! many! exclamation! points! 

it was the longest we've been away from home, and our first time visiting utah in the summertime, which, aside from a heat wave (it is the desert though, so, like, no surprise), was really perfect timing. the cousin time couldn't be beat. mike's sister rented a giant inflatable slide on our first day all together, and it was such a hit we did it again the next week. they were taller than the house, and it was equal parts fun for the kids and hysterical to watch as a bystander. there was homemade root beer, and lots of food, and an entire bottle of sunscreen. it was incredible.

we rented an airbnb between our families which gave elle her own space, and we had a washer & dryer and a yard, and it was a perfect home base. mike worked the first half of the trip, so i put the kids in swimming lessons (which was SO GREAT!), and we made it a tradition to go to swig after swimming each morning. (we ate/drank a lot of swig.) i had 6 shoots, including a double-date-shoot w/ this gem on antelope island, and it was a highlight of the trip FOR SURE. there were also trips to cherry hill & rush, sooo maaannnyy miiilles driiivennnn, and copious amounts of fast food via drive-thru. lots more family trips, another mini date to logan where we got mike's favorite flavored shelf stable milk. mike, jude, & his dad went golfing, and we spent lots of time hanging out with family. elle became obsessed with the baby kittens at mike's dad's house, and she pushed "princess" around in a shopping cart whenever we visited. there were tears shed when we left over nana & papa and cousins, and too-many-to-count breathtaking sunsets to remember them all.

until next time, utah.

(film & phone photos without further adieu...)