Traditions

Happy Weekend All! This summer is flying by!

Ever since I was a little girl, I have loved traditions. I loved waking up on Christmas morning, knowing we would open gifts, look in our stockings, then eat breakfast. I loved knowing that we would spend Christmas Eve and Christmas Day with my mom's family, eating kielbasa. And that between Christmas and New Year's, we would see one of my dad's brothers and his family.

I loved waking up to Easter baskets and Easter egg hunts on Easter. I loved waking up to a donut on my birthday. I even loved knowing that every summer morning my mom would leave us a note starting with "Good Morning Girls" and containing instructions for chores to do and food to eat that day.

Mostly, I loved the summer traditions of my family. Every week, my Grandma or one of my mom's sisters would pick us up on a weekday morning. We would spend all day swimming in my Grandma's pool, spend the night, and swim until my parents picked us up after work. 

I loved spending a week each summer with my Grandma on my dad's side. We would go out on the boat, swim, play mini golf, get ice cream, and roast marshmallows. 

My parents would take us camping several times in the summer. There were always trips that lasted a week or two, exploring new areas, hiking, reading, Pizza Hut lunches, and a trip or two to Dairy Queen. 

The other week, my sister, my niece, Jeremy, and I headed up to my parent's cottage to spend some time together. My parents live on the same lake that my Grandma on my dad's side did, which makes it even more special to go up there.

While we were up there, I realized that now that we are adults, it's up to us to be a part of making our traditions. And I realized that we have already started making traditions for ourselves and the next generation.

Traditions like:

making the long trek up north,

Campfires by the lake,

playing with "cousins",

relaxing with Jeremy's parents,

hanging out on the boat,

gathering generations,

Mary Louise, Paula Louise, Emily Louise, Sofia Louise

kayaking trips,

enjoying sunsets,

and hanging out on the same dunes that I have since I was a little girl.

Jeremy and I have decided to make some traditions with our anniversary. In my last post, I mentioned that we were in Milwaukee as part of a new tradition. 

Jeremy and I were in Europe for our honeymoon. While we were there, we decided that we would like to spend every fifth anniversary visiting a new continent.

Right before our first anniversary, we decided that we want to spend all of our other anniversaries exploring a new city. We made this decision in June, so we decided to go to a place pretty close. So, we set off for Milwaukee.

We also decided that we should get a picture of us in front of some sort of sign or famous symbol that showed which city we were in last.

We started our tradition by posing in front of the Milwaukee Public Market.

When we got home, we had the picture blown up to an 8x10 and framed it.

We are looking forward to exploring new places together for years to come!

Next week, we are heading out to our first neighborhood of the month! 

Keep cool!

Mosby enjoying an ice cube

Until next time, keep crafting!

SB