{FREEPORT BEACH // SUMMER VACATION DAY 5 RECAP}

This is the last and final recap of our beach trip...day five, our last full day at the beach. 6 days is all our family could spare this summer when it came to vacation due to work and school schedules.  We chose to go somewhere fairly close so we could make the most of that time. And that we did! Day five was packed to the gills with nothing but goodness. And, it's safe to say that day five was easily Mason's favorite day of the trip! Keep reading to find out why.

{FREEPORT BEACH // SUMMER VACATION DAYS 3 & 4}

In efforts to get my vacation recaps wrapped up, I am combining days 3 & 4! Both days were amazing vacation days!! Here is a look at days three and four of our vacation.

{Currently // August 2019 edition}

I've missed a couple of these, but I'm happy to joining back in with Anne in Residence for Currently. This month we are sharing what we are currently ordering, watching, cooking, wondering, and savoring. 

{FREEPORT BEACH // SUMMER VACATION DAY 2 RECAP}

I'm back to recap day 2 of our summer beach vacation! Again, it was another day of heavy picture taking so I will only share day two today. We all slept in until 9ish and it was glorious. Isn't that what vacation is all about? Staying up late and sleeping in? One of my favorite parts. We knew that we wanted to do some shopping and figured a weekday would be better than a weekend as far as crowds go so we got ready and headed to The Strand (downtown shopping district in Galveston).

Weekend Wrap-up // Floating the Brazos River}

I don't know about you, but I am not a fan of these summer weekends flying by so fast! I feel like I went to bed on Friday and woke up to it being Monday. Summer, please sloooow down! We did have a great weekend, though. Here is our weekend wrap-up.

{Freeport Beach // Summer Vacation Day 1 Recap}

We just returned from an amazing family summer vacation to the beach! We only had 5 short days to spend at the beach, but we made the most of it and packed a lot into our days. And because of that, I am going to recap by the day. Otherwise, it would be a never-ending post. Today is day 1 of the recaps.

{Vacation in Numbers // Freeport, TX}

Hi y'all! I took a little bit of an unexpected break from this space. Work was absolutely crazy the week before vacation and I had zero time to draft any posts! Now I have tons to catch up on. We just got back from a beach vacation and it was pretty amazing!! Today I am going to recap our vacation in numbers.

{Jeepin' in the Paluxy River}

A few weekends ago we joined some friends for a day at the river! We have been seeing this "secret spot" for quite some time on Facebook and finally had a local friend tell us how to get there. Now we know why they want to keep this little piece of paradise a secret...

{Jeep night at Texas Motor Speedway with Baa Baa Black Jeep}

Last weekend we got to join Baa Baa Black Jeep for his Jeep night event at Texas Motor Speedway! John has been putting on this event for over 5 years now and this year was the first time we were able to go! Since this was our first time we had no idea what to expect and man were we impressed! I think it's safe to say this has been one of our favorite Jeep events yet!

{Rollin' in the 4th of July parade with the Ellis County Jeep Club}

We had the pleasure of getting to roll with the Ellis County Jeeps in the Waxahachie 4th of July parade! Despite the insane heat and humidity, we had a blast. This was our 4th or 5th parade to be in since we've had the Jeep. They just keep getting better and better!

{Chasing sunflowers and sunsets}

Let me preface this by saying that I really, really love sunflowers. They make my heart so happy. We made three trips to the sunflower fields this summer and I loved each and every trip!! The drive there is gorgeous and then the fields are just breathtaking! Backroads are so good for my soul.

{Star Spangled Weekend}

How is it already Monday? It's already late afternoon and I am just now getting to this post. We spent Thursday - Sunday out in the Texas heat from basically sun up until sundown. To say that we are exhausted would be an understatement! We had a 4th of July parade Thursday morning and we camped the rest of the weekend. I used my 4th of July Scavenger hunt as a "photo hunt" of sorts to capture a Star Spangled Weekend...

{Pirate's Cove Waterpark // Family Day}

Early last week Nathan and I agreed that we needed to have a fun family day with Mason. We know that he absolutely loves water and that our plan needed to incorporate that in some way. We originally planned to go play in the river in a town that we love. But, that was a no go when we heard that the river was too high to play in! We've had a ton of rain lately. So, we decided on Pirate's Cove Waterpark in Burleson, TX. We've been there a few times and we remembered how much Mason loved it!

{Fourth of July Scavenger Hunt}

I created this scavenger hunt a few years ago but wanted to share it again. We are big on scavenger hunts over here! Especially when we are outdoors or camping! And, we'll definitely be camping this 4th of July weekend. This can also be used as a photo checklist to capture your weekend! I'm printing and bring this with us! 

What are your plans for the 4th of July? 

{RED, WHITE, BLUE AND YOU LINK-UP // Target dollar spot haul}

I am obsessed with all things red, white and blue, stars & stripes!! So, you can imagine my excitement when I stumbled upon a fairly stocked 4th of July bin in the dollar spot at Target a couple of weeks ago! To explain a bit, our local Target's dollar spot stays empty. womp. womp. We are basically the only Target in the county, so everyone and their grandma's dog comes to our Target! So, if you hit it when it's stocked you better grab while you can! And that's what I did with some cute 4th of July decor for my tiered tray! I love changing that tray up with the seasons! I need to be on the hunt for some staple items to go on the tray like Laurie does. But in the meantime, here is my Target dollar spot haul it all of it's red, white and blue glory!

{Pinterest to Project // vol. 10 // Tic Tac Toe game}

When I first stumbled upon this pin I knew I had to make it! Mason loves playing tic tac toe. And, I knew it would be a perfect little something to take camping with us. There's always a bit of downtime when camping and sometimes we like to play games. This DIY Tic Tac Toe game takes up no space at all and the game board holds the actual pieces! Here is how I turned this DIY Tic Tac Toe game Pinterest to a Project...

{Wheeling at Hidden Falls in Marble Falls, TX}

This past Saturday we road-tripped with some friends to Hidden Falls Adventure Park in Marble Falls, TX. It's about three hours south of us, but it's a fairly easy drive. We had a complete blast and we're already ready to go back. This is my 2nd favorite off-road park so far (first is Hot Springs Off-road Park in Arkansas).  It was beautiful and offered so many great views and photo ops! The trails were also very clean and pretty well marked. Oh, and the map was one of the easiest to read, which is a plus. So often the trail maps are hard to follow and you just end up winging it. But, not the case here. If you're an off-road enthusiast and ever in this area, I highly recommend it.

{Weekend Wrap-up // Movies, Jeeping, Sunday-ing}

Happy Monday! Another weekend gone by too fast. I looked at the date this morning and it literally took my breath away. How is it already June 24th? Summer is going by way too fast for my liking! I mean, we must have been having fun for it to go by so quick, but STILL! More summer, less school! Anyhow, here's a look at our weekend. Spoiler alert: it was a good one!!

{What to pack for a day of off-roading}

We are going on a wheeling trip this weekend and as I was making my list of what to bring on the trip I had an idea to share it here on the blog. I don't think many off-roaders follow my blog yet, but it may help someone in the future. So, without further ado, here is a list of things to pack for a day of off-roading.

{Pinterest to Project // vol. 9 // Homemade Jello Popsicles}

I don't know about you, but I am all about summer right now. Every time I search something on Pinterest lately I've found a common theme; summer activities, summer recipes, summer crafts, summer playlists, summer, summer, summer. So, when I stumbled upon this pin for Homemade Jello Popsicles I knew we had to make them.

{GP Officer Memorial Run with the Jeep Club}

On Saturday we had the honor of riding in the memorial Jeep run for a fallen officer in our home town of Grand Prairie, TX. One of our friends that runs a Jeep club coordinated the event and did such an amazing job doing so. We all met at the Walmart in Grand Prairie where everyone gathered to pray, set-up their flags and make donations. There was a donation box as well as a Paypal you could give to. There was a large number of Jeeps, a car club and several different tow-truck companies there to show their support. It was so amazing and pulled at my heartstrings. All of those thin blue line flags did me in!

{Bridgeport // BFG & Discount Tire Vendor Event & Wheeling}

The weekend before last we attended a really fun Jeep event at Northwest OHV Park in Bridgeport, TX. The event was hosted by BFGoodrich Tires and Discount Tire. They had vendors set-up as well as some amazing raffles! We put out some feelers and quickly realized we had a pretty good group of people interested in going with us.

{Weekend Wrap-up // Movies, Police Memorial Run, Father's Day}

Happy Monday! Another weekend gone too soon. :) We did have a good one, though! Mason spent the night with his cousins last night so it's just me here this morning. Feels weird! But anyhow, here's a look at our weekend...

{Supper at the lake with friends}

At 3:46pm on Monday afternoon I got a text from my sweet friend Keri saying something to the tune of  "we are going to have supper at the lake this evening if y'all want to join us". Umm, yes, please! I texted Nate to check with him even though I knew what his answer would be. He wrote back  (very quickly) "I'm down"! We love having friends close by that has all the same interests as we do! We all get along so great and our kids even declared themselves best friends by the end of the night! Oh, how I love it. Sunset suppers at the lake with dear friends is what summer is all about!

{Another evening at the lake}

Am I getting a bit repetitive here? We just can't help it. We enjoy our evenings spent at the lake something fierce. A couple of weeks ago we loaded up the Jeep, grabbed a pizza & some drinks and headed for the lake. The water was a bit warmer for Mason (not that he cares) and it was just a really nice evening. We love this lake because it's fairly small and its a quiet & relaxing area.

{🍉 Summer is served 🍉}

There is just something about the first watermelon of the season! 🍉 Am I right? It's like the ultimate start to summer for us! Because with the first watermelon there is usually a day spent outside and a grilled meal for supper. That just screams summer to me. Well, the first Saturday of our "official" summer was that day for us. And, you know it had to be documented.

{Hello Monday // Weekend Wrap-up // Horse Races, Jeep Event, topless}

Hello Monday! It's been a busy one so far. I'm just now getting to work on my weekend post! We had another great weekend and I am sad to see it go. Mainly because Nate is back to work. We sure do miss him! Anyhow, here's a look at what we did this weekend.

{How we do school Lunchbox Notes}

I know, I know...it's summer time for most of you and I am talking about school lunchbox notes. What am I even doing? haha. But, this is something Mason and I have really enjoyed this year and I wanted to share here on my blog. This is how we do lunchbox notes...

{Currently // June 2019}

Happy summer!! Oh, how I love that word...S U M M E R! I love having my boy at home with me and getting to kiss his sweet little face any time I want! I plan to make this the summer of fun, but mixed with a little (okay, a lot) of organizing. I blame Lindsay. :) She's inspired me to get my butt in order and organize all the things. But for now, let's take a look at what's currently going on.  Here is a look at what I am currently picking, going, wishing, wearing, and celebrating.

{Mason, TX // Annual Memorial Day weekend trip}

Memorial Day weekend was our annual trip to the good ole Texas hill country for camping at Mason TX. Or, "The Garrison Family Reunion" as the signs said when we pulled up. I love it! One of my favorite weekends with some of my favorite people.

{Hello Monday // Weekend Wrap-up}

Hello Monday! I'm not even mad atcha. It's summertime and summer Mondays are better than any other Mondays. Right? I just wish Nate got a summer break like Mason does! Then it would be pretty golden! At least we have the weekends. Speaking of weekends, here is a look at our weekend wrap-up...

{Last day of Third Grade}

Yesterday was Mason's last day of third grade. Cue the tears. And it was extra bittersweet because it was also his last day at this campus. We are sure going to miss everyone that we have grown to love so much at this school. This district is so different than when I was in school! I had 3 schools; elementary, middle and high school. Mason will go through 5 campuses before he graduates high school. So wild! Anyhow, Mason will be moving to the Intermediate for fourth grade. So, to say that the last day was sad is an understatement. Mason said so many of his classmates were crying. That just pulls at my heartstrings. Shows how much they loved their school, their teacher and their classmates. So sweet! Anyhow, here's a look at Mason's last day of third grade. 

{Sweet, sweet summertime // Summer bucket of fun}

At 12:30 this afternoon we will officially be on summer break!!!!!! 

{Summer bucketlist // 2019}

Since this week (at noon on Thursday to be exact) kicks off summer for us I thought I would share our summer bucket list for 2019. We sure do love our summers around here and try to make the absolute most of them. Here is a list of things we hope to do this summer.

{Art Gala & Recorder Concert}

Mason has been learning the recorder in his music class for the last several months. They finally got to showcase their hard work at the school's Art Gala & Recorder Concert. The school put on display the artwork of all three grade levels throughout the school and then had a couple of 3rd grade classes perform their recorder recital every 15 minutes or so. The evening was really well put together and it was so great to see Mason on stage! That boy has some major love of being on the stage and confidence. He certainly doesn't get that from me!

{Memorial Day}

{Road-trip goodie bag}

If you know anything about my family then you would know that we go on a lot of trips. Most of them are camping trip, but a trip nonetheless. Nate told me about how when he was a child that his mom would always make them a road trip goodie bag. It was filled with little treats and treasures to make the road-trip more fun. He knew this was one tradition that he wanted to carry on with Mason. And so we did. We still do it to this day and it's one of my favorite parts about a road-trip.

{Spring Bucketlist // what we did and didn't do}

Since summer is just a few days away I guess it's time to take a look at our spring bucketlist and see how we faired.

{Sunset supper at the lake}

One random weeknight, a Thursday to be exact, we decided to shake things up a bit for supper. We thought it would be fun to cook supper at the lake while watching the sunset. We gathered everything we needed for grilling some burgers and we were off.  

{Weekend Wrap-up // 3rd Grade Dance, Birthdays, Jeep Fest, church and bridal dress shopping}

Happy Tuesday y'all! It's 10:27 am and I am just now getting to start this post. Life has been CRAAAZZAAAYYY. But, I am sure most of you can relate with it being the end of the school year. There is so much going on around this time of year. And on top of that, we are leaving to go camping this weekend. So, I'm trying to prepare for all of the fun themed days Mason has this week, plus get us ready for camping. But, on the bright side, we are this close to summer!!!! Can I get an amen?  I just hope those summer weekends do not fly by as fast as this last one did. Here's a look at this past weekend.

{3 Things May}

My sweet friend Andrea shared a fun link-up called "Three Things May" and I wanted to join in. By the way, if you're not following Andrea do yourself a favor and head over there now. She's the sweetest most adorable human being you'll meet! I just adore her. Anyhow, here are my three things May.

{Sunday Funday}

A few weeks ago we had some Jeep friends over our house to hang out! We helped install some inner fenders on one of the Jeeps, but mostly we just hung out. It's always a fun time when we are all together. 

{Mother's Day weekend}

Happy Monday! I hope all of you mamas had a really great Mother's Day weekend! We had a fabulous weekend filled with so much family time. Friday and Saturday were pretty much a rainy mess, but Sunday was gorgeous. Here's a look at our weekend.

{Five on Friday // Dress Up week, One Second Every day, Rose, Camp, Life on Back Forty}

Happy Friday! This week actually went by pretty fast for me. Sunday through Tuesday night/Wednesday morning I had a migraine so that was blah! And then Wednesday it poured and poured. And as of right now the forecast is showing rain until Monday. Nonetheless, I am ready for the weekend. Here's a bit of what went on this week for Five on Friday...

{Unlimited Off-Road Show // 2019}

Back at the beginning of April, we attended the Unlimited Off-Road show at Texas Motor Speedway. It was a Saturday/Sunday event and I worked the entire time. On Saturday Nathan and I volunteered with some friends to work the first shift for the actual event itself. They needed volunteers something fierce and we didn't mind helping! We also got a free shirt as well as free admission for both days events! Definitely worth it. 

{Teacher Appreciation Week // Gift Ideas}

Happy Teacher appreciation week! It's the time to love on those teachers that pour into our children's hearts, minds and souls day after day. I couldn't be more grateful for the teachers that Mason has been blessed with! There are a million different ways of doing "teacher appreciation" but the method I've done since Mason was in Preschool is a smallish gift each day with a bigger gift on Friday. Here is what I am doing for Mason's teachers this year.

{Spring 2019 Bucketlist}

With my blogging hiatus I am a little late sharing our Spring bucketlist, but better late than never right? We've already crossed off several things on our list, but we've still got more to do! Here is a look at everything we hope to do this spring.

{Ellis County Jeep Meet}

Our local Jeep club has a meet up once a month. Our April meet up was at a new burger place in town only about 5 minutes from our house. Because of this, we took both Jeeps. The owners of the restaurant let us all park out in the field behind the place. There was a huge dirt/rock pile and you know as Jeepers we couldn't stay off. The owners were completely cool with it and even came out to take photos! Nate and I had both of our Jeeps on the dirt/rock pile, but it was hard to get shots with both Jeeps together.

{Easter at the Halls // 2019}

On Tuesday I shared our Easter at the lake, today I am going to share about our Easter with the Halls. We gathered Sunday afternoon to celebrate Easter and it was a lovely time. Nathan's Grandma was able to come and spend a few hours with us and it was just lovely.

{Currently // May 2019}

Happy May 1st!! I have mixed feelings about this month!! I am super excited because it's the last month of school (bring on summer!!!!), but then it's bittersweet because it's Mason's last month at his current school. He will be turning 9 on the 25th of May and will start 4th grade in August. Which, is at a different campus! How did we get here so fast? I don't even want to think about it. So, instead, let's take a look at what's currently going on.  Here is a look at what I am currently admiring, playing, borrowing, remembering, and finishing.