Summer snapshot

I've got a recurring Sunday evening alarm set on my phone to remind me to write a weekly recap. It's not exactly a journal, since it's mostly "we did this" and "we did that" rather than any sort of reflection. But I've been doing it fairly regularly since January, and it has worked pretty well. ("It's better than nothing" is my slightly more defeatist version of "Progress is better than perfection".)

I'm often surprised how easily I forget what we did just yesterday, but I've found that scrolling through my calendar and the last several days of photos and texts can help me re-create the timeline.

We did a big road trip in mid-July, which I hope to document here, but it might have to wait until school starts and I have a bit more uninterrupted time to sift through the pictures and memories. In the meantime, here are some fun pics from the last week or so.

 It had been a long time since Matt and I went on an actual date, and even longer since we went to a concert.

Right after we got back from our road trip, my sister was in town for two short visits on either end of another Texas commitment that she had. As a result, I got to see this cool light display on my brother-in-law's new car.

 My cousin and his family visited, so we took them to some fun Austin spots. 

Sunset at Mount Bonnell was pretty lovely. 

We also explored the Capitol. The kids wanted to look down on the rotunda from three increasingly high observation levels. I went along with it, in spite of my terrifying intrusive thoughts any time a child gets near any sort of drop off.

I was much more comfortable once we were on the ground level, appreciating the architectural details. 

We took the kids to a splash pad that we'd never visited before.

I really love the look of those big water drops hanging in midair.

I also loved the overlapping circles pattern as the water pooled near the drain. 

That was harder to catch in a picture, though. 

The big kids are super into cars lately, and sometimes while driving down the road, they will ask for my phone--quick!--so they can take a picture. It's usually for some crazy expensive super car, but the other day it was this charming old Beetle. 

A screenshot of an article I foolishly clicked on, thinking it might have some actual relevant content.

"You desire to have a sexy breast..."

Yes please, just the one.

And I really, really love that among all the warnings and safety regulations posted by the swim center, they saved their biggest font by far for these words: Please have your ID CARD OUT AND READY TO SCAN.

Handguns, smoking, and glass containers are of course prohibited at the pool, but if there's one thing wealthy white suburbanites won't tolerate, it's standing behind you at the front desk as you shuffle through your wallet searching for the card that proves to the teenage lifeguard that you really are one of them.