five things Friday: Insta-summer edition

Friday again! Which is great, because summer weekends are the best - but not so great, because it brings us that much closer to the end of summer. Wahhh.  That makes me already feel nostalgic for our summer fun, so I thought I'd relive some of it via an Instagram life update - aka (re)share some summer highlights/happenings in clever hashtag form (attempts at wit that took me this long after posting the actual photos to come up with... #slowontheuptag).

#ERweareagain: unfortunately I am accumulating enough ER visits to have previous experiences to compare to ... but luckily this most recent trip was one of the more low-key versions. It started out crazy, with blood spurting around the kitchen after Hendrik slipped and fell on his cardboard "skis" and gashed his head on the doorway. We very quickly calmed down and slowed the bleeding, but I knew even without my doctor husband being home (because the squeamish, non medical one of course has to do the ER trips!) that it was going to need some closure. We have a major champ on our hands though - Hendrik even chose to get the lidocaine injection rather than numbing ointment (it's faster), and then got stapled up with no fuss. And it was nice to have Peter meet us in the ER and explain the whole thing to Hendrik, having performed this type of head laceration closure plenty of times. Oh and also to be the one to actually look at what was going on/take the staples out the next week. My job was just to hold H's hand and look the other direction (ewwww).

#feelingtents: I'm not sure what prompted it, but early in the summer Hendrik started asking about going camping in a tent. This prompted a family trip to the sporting goods store, the purchase of a new tent, and assurances that mommy could sleep in her own bed. Peter surprised Hendrik one evening a few weeks ago by saying "let's go out and set up the tent in the back yard" - the look of delight on Hendrik's face as it dawned on him that setting up the tent meant that he was going to get to sleep in it that night almost made me feel bad about not being part of this rite of passage. But not nearly enough to get me to sleep on the ground, or take away the enjoyment of my solo evening indoors. Hendrik did pretty well out there, but Peter won't be doing it again until he gets some better padding to sleep on, I'm thinking...

#mydahling: dahlias showing up at the farmer's market is one of my favorite milestones of summer, but these ones actually showed up in my own backyard! Very impressed with my husband for planting and tending to these all summer, and then arranging a little bunch for the kitchen windowsill when they bloomed, with the promise of more to come. We've also been enjoying the basil and cucumbers from his little plot in our neighborhood community garden, with the promise of tomatoes to come.

#lakelife: since Memorial Day, whenever possible, this view has been my plan for the weekend. Really, no better place than Lake Michigan in the summer time, especially the beach we get to use courtesy of my parents and their cottage. (But the view of an inland lake that we enjoyed with Peter's family last weekend was some pretty great summer vibes too.)

#niceride: Peter and I rode in the big annual cycling event in town again this year, and while we were in the middle of our 50+  miles he asked, "when do you think we should upgrade your road bike?" I initially thought maybe next spring, but it turned out he actually had one all specced out, and we had it on order the next day. (A girl doesn't say no to that offer, even if he might be trying to butter you up for some biking-related purchases of his own.) I'm loving the new bike - not only is she sleek and speedy looking, but she also rides like a dream! Also been loving family rides in matching jerseys and group rides with new cycling friends.

We've still got a major highlight of summer to come - our Montreal trip - but in the meantime I'd love more of all of the above. Aside from any scalp wounds for anyone around here, of course. 

What's been your summer highlight so far?