Summerizing

For me, summer has always been the most wonderful time of the year. When I think about my childhood, it's as if the whole thing took place in the summer. Night games in the backyard, sleepovers on the trampoline, catching fireflies in my swim suit, and having ice cream on the porch for every meal. All good things, but the family road trips were the best of all. My favorite family memories come from our summer travels, and that's why I'm so glad that I have Neil! He approved each and every summer adventure that I had mapped out on the calendar by March, and he even let me include a "doughnuts" column in our budget for each trip. We had six weeks of summer and so we took six trips. I'm all about collecting moments instead of things, and so here are the best moments I collected during each of our summer highlights. 

Utah

• Lauren spilling salsa all over her white dress after I suggested eating Costa Vida on the way to the wedding. Neil tried to warn us.
• Getting to read the letters sent me from her mission about Spencer at her rehearsal dinner. I'd kept them for just such an occasion. 
• Dancing with all five of my sisters at the wedding. 
• Having the Brown family and the Webb family together for a day at the lake.
• Running all over the state of Utah to see our friends. We miss them. 

Knott's Berry Farm

• Making friends with little kids in the line for the Silver Bullet. They asked us to sit by them and they helped me not be as scared.
• Riding our favorite wooden roller coaster (Ghost Rider) at night and seeing fireworks from the top. 
• Running madly all the way across the park so that we could ride the Silver Bullet one last time before the park closed. It worked! 

Venice Beach/Santa Monica

• Finding a shop on the boardwalk with delicious mini fried doughnuts. 
• Riding bicycles down the boardwalk to Santa Monica pier. 
• Watching street performers for longer than expected.
• Being content to hear the waves crash against the rocks. 

Seattle

• When we first got to our treehouse and Neil kept saying "This is so weird. This is so weird." because he couldn't handle living like a hippie.
• The bookstore owner in Pike's Place who narrated our life for us every time we walked into his shop.
• Obsessing over the baby otters at the aquarium.
• Lying down in the middle of the floor in the Chihuly glass house and looking up at the Space Needle.
• Meeting up with my childhood friend from Virginia and exploring together.
• Watching Neil go WAY out of his way to help someone who had crashed on their bike downtown. 
• Going to a park that was recommended to us by our new Irish friend and walking through the trees next to the water. The fact that some people were swimming in the sea and Neil was wearing about 13 layers of clothes because he was cold, and I loved him so much.

 San Diego

• Hanging 25 wishes on the bushes for my 25th birthday.
• Riding a roller coaster on the beach at night because I said, "We should ride that the next time we're here," and Neil said, "Why not ride it now?"
• Seeing all of the doughnuts lined up perfectly at the Donut Bar AKA heaven.
• When I realized that we were going whale watching on our way to the harbor.
• The first time a pod of dolphins surrounded our boat and were leaping around us. 
• When I finally saw a whale's tail come up out of the water and then every time after when it was just as surreal as the first.

Universal Studios/Newport Beach

• Entering the Wizarding World of Harry Potter for the first time with the person who loves Harry Potter more than anyone else on this earth. 
• Getting off of the Forbidden Journey ride and then getting right back on again.
• When we started chanting "Life finds a way" on the Jurassic Park ride. 
• Riding the kid rides in Super Silly Fun Land at night when they were all lit up and pretty.
• Doing yoga on the beach with my sisters.
• Swimming and laughing in the ocean for hours. 
• Having Abbie come all the way back to Yuma with me just to make milkshakes, watch movies, and go to my favorite doughnut shop with me. I have the best sisters. 

I took a couple of other short trips without Neil, but life is always better and more real when he's with me. School is back in full swing, but lucky for us, it will be swimsuit weather and road trip season all year long.