18 summers.
That’s the gift I’ve been given.
18 wonderful, incredible, amazing summers.
I still remember the first summer. It was full of monogrammed bathing suits and tiny blonde curls and giggles and twin language and naps and spoonfuls of applesauce.
There was the summer the braces came off.
There was the summer we fried an egg on the sidewalk.
There was the summer of driving permits.
There were summers full of cheer camp and dance camp and Nana camp and drives across America and celebrating the Fourth of July on the beach and watching all the Gilmore Girl episodes back to back.
I remember them each and every one.
And now?
We’ve come to summer number 18.
The senior summer.
The last summer before these two sweet chicks leave the nest.
When the leaves start to fall, they’ll be at Baylor. Hopefully going to class on time and learning all the things and remembering all the lessons I taught them.
And I’m going to be debating whether or not to move into their dorm room.
But for now?
I have this summer.
And I don’t want to miss a minute.
So here are 18 things, one for each of the past summers, that are on our summer bucket list.
1. Take a cooking class together (all three of us need to learn how to cook).
2. Go to the top of Reunion Tower for lunch.
3. Watch the sunrise on the beach together.
4. Go to a drive-in movie (and bring a picnic along).
5. Go on a mini-road trip to Waco and sing our favorite playlist at the top of our lungs.
6. Go to a painting class in downtown McKinney and paint something for their dorm room.
7. Binge watch an entire television series this summer (Dawson’s Creek I’m looking at you).
8. Get a pedicure together (and maybe a facial, too).
9. Take Buddy to the dog park (and maybe go to the animal shelter and hug all the puppies).
10. Spend a night together playing Westleigh’s favorite board game, “We’re Not Really Strangers” where we talk through all our feelings and tell each other how amazing we are.
11. Plant a tree in the backyard (my brothers did this before they left for college).
12. Go to the library and pick out our favorite books and spend an afternoon reading.
13. Pull out the photo albums from when they were little and spend the afternoon telling all the stories.
14. Go pick strawberries and then make a pie (and use my favorite recipe for pie crust).
15. Get dressed up and go out to a fancy dinner.
16. Plan a photoshoot with these amazing matching kimonos.
17. Sit on the beach and do nothing together for the afternoon.
18. Hug each other tight like you’ll never let each other go.
I am the luckiest duck in the world to have spent 18 summers with the two of you.
And just in case I haven’t mentioned it?
You are going to make such a difference in this big wide world.
I am so happy I have a front-row seat.
Don’t be afraid of failure.
Don’t be afraid to try.
Nothing in this world is accomplished by someone sitting on the sidelines.
Life is all about the doing.
And I can’t wait to spend this summer with you. 🙂
PS A giant shout out to Kenna Lynn Photography for these incredible photos and for Victoria Dunn and her sweet gift to a mom who wanted to celebrate the summer in style.
18 summers is a wonderful gift! I loved every summer home with my kids the dishes and meals were endless but so were the memories. Blessings to you and your daughters in your mutually new adventure, college life! It is wonderful to raise young women with strong roots and strong wings!
This list is everything! Enjoy every minute - make lifelong memories. Enjoy yourselves! ❤️
Oh, I think this just might be my favorite post ever, which is saying something. I love seeing the photos of you and your girls. You could be triplets! Have you ever read the novel by faith- based writer Michelle Cox called Just 18 Summers? This would be a great one for you and your girls to read this summer! It’s from Tyndale House.
What a precious gift to your daughters and yourself. Reminds me to do similar things with my daughter. Have fun!
Just 18 Summers https://smile.amazon.com/dp/1414386591/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_fabc_6J8BX54GXTTF6VDY3YG9
It sounds like a wonderful and amazing summer for you three, plus anyone else you drag along for the ride! Enjoy every moment. They are all treasures.
So sweet, what a hard time in your life! What are the twins planning on studying?
Great list! Great photos!
This made me cry. Wishing you the best summer ever. xo
Oh you 3 are simply gorgeous!! And those robes!!! Where did you find them? Enjoy every precious moment of this summer. My boys grew up way too fast but now I blessed to enjoy 5 grandchildren and I am savoring every minute spent with them! It’s a tearful bittersweet summer for you—- you have given them wings and direction— May they soar into new adventures….
Beautiful ladies and post! Ya'll look like triplets!:)♥ Have a GREAT summer!
I loved the list and you didn’t even mention Cape cod. Or dad. My husband had a harder time when our daughter left for college than I did. Love the tree planting idea. Are the twins planning on being roommates or each going out to explore on their own? I can see advantages of both! I’m a Libra so of course I can.
These are such wonderful ideas, because the summer before they leave for college is filled with so many emotions. Anticipation, anxiety and a little touch of sadness because they know that this next chapter is a big one. Brava to your girls and to you for being their mama!
An all girls summer! What fun! The photos are so sweet and what keepsakes! Planting a tree would give you all something to watch grow as the girls get through college and transition into families of their own. That sounds like a wonderful idea! Wishing you all a fabulous summer!
Those activities sound a lot more fun than what I did the summer before I left home to attend the University of Missouri in Columbia. I was the middle child and had, for the most part, been able to avoid doing field work on our small farm. My older sister was my Dad's "boy" until my younger brother got old enough to help. However, my 18th summer my brother was visiting a cousin in Wyoming for much of the summer and I was recruited to help my father in the field. I drove a tractor pulling a harrow over a field that had been plowed wet and left to bake into bowling ball-sized clay boulders and I drove a tractor and raked hay for my Dad to bale and got very good at creating tidy windrows. One day my father was elevating small round hay bales up into the haymow of an old barn on my grandparents' abandoned property and asked me to go into the haymow and use a stick to roll the bales back toward the back of the haymow so they wouldn't build up under the elevator. I was running back and forth trying to keep up with the bales falling off the elevator, not realizing my Dad didn't expect me to keep up with him, and my foot went through a rotten place in the haymow floor and I grazed my shin bone all the way to my knee. I can still feel the chips in my shin bone today. I didn't stop working and finally my Dad, having unloaded the entire wagon of bales, came up to stack them in the haymow, found me bleeding, but only expressed amazement that I had been able to keep up with him and rolled the entire wagonload of bales to the rear of the haymow.. Of course we didn't bother with a doctor and I went off to university with a badly bruised and skinned up leg, but I still remember feeling so wonderful that my Dad had been pleased and surprised with my performance...just a little story in time for Father's Day.
Well, you did it. When I read the first two sentences I thought, uh oh, this is going to make me cry. Yes, indeed it did! Enough said!
Your girls are pretty amazing and so are those sons! You’ve done a wonderful job! I’m sure there will be phone calls that only you can make better as they adjust to college life. I had a few of those! I will keep them in my prayers!
So beautifully written. I teared up a little. Enjoy this summer. Take tons of pics.
What a great list you have! How precious our the years (and summers) with our kids. The most precious ever! Enjoy your 18th summer!🧡
I don’t even have children but you have me bawling ;like a baby. I love your writing!
Oh….what a sweet post. My, how they’ve grown up…right before our very eyes! I hope you three get to do everything on your list….great list btw! Wishing the girls all the best at Baylor! ;)
How very precious KariAnne! I can tell you that YES, they do come home (and will eventually bring you the most amazing blessings you can only now imagine) but it's never quite the same as when they're ALL yours. ;-) Hugs, Paula www.dimplesonmywhat.com
What a wonderful list--now get to it!!! (You made me tear up a bit.)
Great list of things to do, but the summer will pass so quickly, you will probably only get to do #18! Wishing them and you the best!
Oh my goodness, this makes me want to cry! What sweet memories, and such beautiful plans for this summer. My daughter is 18 and going to college. This is just precious!
As a mom we are all sorta in the same boat. Thank you for all the happy tears and great summer to do list, no matter the age! Gosh, is my mascara running???.....
My favorite time was summers with my kiddos. I LOVED every minute of it. I loved doing what we wanted to do instead of being on a tight school schedule. We’d spend the first week of summer deep cleaning the house especially going through closets and getting rid of clothes that were too small and THEN… summer began with ALL the play time and fun.
Love this post. You look like sisters. Enjoy the summer with your two cuties and remember you taught them well. A new beginning for them and also for you. You will need a semi truck to get them there since you are taking two. Love all of you.
I've already started summer activities with my soon-to-be college freshman. We did our annual Breakfast at the Beach earlier this week. Heading out for college orientation on Sunday. We have a road trip planned for July. Gotta soak up the moments! But I don't think he is interested in a manicure or facial!
Thanks for sharing the twins 18 years of sweetness! Cheers to all the future life chapters you get to enjoy with them!
Enjoy!!!
This is so great! Your girls are going to Baylor, correct? My son will be a senior next year. It has been the most wonderful experience! He even started his own company last year! It's called Zios Health. I can send you a pack - all the kids on campus drink it and love it. It keeps them healthy and hydrated. Perfect for college students!
Sob....it is a big transition time for all of you. Embrace every moment and watch them fly. You look like triplets :)
Enjoy and I know you will do each and everyone of them. and many more.. Have a great summer and enjoy each moment with your sweet ladies.❤❤❤
Oh I love this list and spending this time together. Driving to Waco playing your favorite songs and singing on top of your lungs is right up my alley. Nothing like driving in the car with your favorite people ad loving music. I love the matching outfits and all three of you are adorable. This will be a big adjustment but these girls will strive nd do great things.
When I think I am going to see New content, I am seeing the same thing over and over again. Maybe I am doing wrong
I love this 18 times over! Y'all look like triplets! Enjoy your summer together - it is bound to be special.
Awww the robes are darling! You all are so cute! Gorgeous all three! It’s such an emotional time for moms when our kids go off to college. Enjoy your summer with these sweet girls
Such a sweet post. I loved every word of it. Enjoy your summer with your daughters. Hugs and blessings to you.
KariAnne, When I read this I realized how long I have been following along, and it blew my mind to think that the girls were so little and here they are going to be going off to Baylor! This is such a poignant and sweet post, and I know that God has incredible plans for them. It'll be a beautiful thing to watch it all unfold. Xoxo Dee
KariAnne, How bittersweet these days will be for you. I sure wish I could go back in time to live them again. But in some way you will, when your darling girls bring back their families to your home. The joys are endless. Yes, it will be a lot of work, but such a great family time. Enjoy!
Sounds like an eventful summer planned and I am sure they will remember it for the rest of their lives! You are a very encouraging mom to them both...
You are so very fortunate to have had children It made me cry. I wish I could have had the 18 great summers you have had. Have a wonderful summer and try to remember every minute.
How beautiful! I remember when my granddaughter was 3 years old and would sing along with Martina McBride “I hope you dance”! She just graduated from college, in just 3 years! She and her lab partner designed and patented a medical device and started a business. She starts medical school in August. Your story is so precious and I truly hope your beautiful daughters enjoy their college years and excel in whatever they choose. I hope they dance!!
I love this and all 18 ways you will celebrate summer with those precious twins. Most importantly you are spending precious moments and time with them. Priceless.❤️❤️❤️
Enjoy every single second with your precious twins this summer.
Please give those cuties extra hugs from a Momma missing her daughter….(who followed her parents advice and is spreading her wings in Hawaii while never forgetting her Pennsylvania roots.) Your girls will always be your babies- no matter how old they get or how far they “go to grow”. Blessings to all! Enjoy making memories this summer. Xoxo
[…] Make an adorable mini rainbow piñata • Creative contact paper projects • 18 summers • fun crafts to make this […]
Well...the GREAT news is that they are going to bring home new friends from college to meet you, and BAYLOR! Are you kidding me? Fun ballgames and all kinds of activities to enjoy with them. I dreaded this time too with my kids and found out it was the beginning of a wonderful new chapter in our lives. Fast forward to today and now those same kids are bring home to the farm teenage (!) grandkids (with their friends) and it can be absolute (wonderful) chaos. lol Embrace every moment. So many wonderful chapters are ahead for you. Your girls are so adorable and they have to be so proud of you.
Best wishes to check off each one of those very great ideas! Those two smart, sweet beauties will go far in this world - with their strongly built loving foundation you have made with and for them. God bless your summer.
Such a beautiful post KariAnne! xo
All such great ideas. Time goes by so fast and before you know it, they are gone. My son left home a few weeks ago leaving us as empty nesters. He didn't go far, just into the city, but I've still only seen him three times since he left. It's quite a shift. Enjoy the moments you have.
Such precious memories and there are many more to come! Love you all!
Do your sons ever feel left out?
Karinanne, congrats to you and the twins. They've both grown up before our eyes too. What beautiful young ladies they've become. And I think I can finally tell them apart... maybe. I love the summer bucket list and what fun you'll have marking through everything and creating new memories with your sweet, young adults. Oh, and the three of you look more like triplets with those cute and colorful matching kimonos. Good luck this summer and all the best for a sensational upcoming college experience. -Lisa, xoxo
I couldn't love this more!! Congratulations to the twin Thistles!!! xoxo
Beautiful! You all look so adorable in matching robes. You three look like triplets! Daughters are special, aren't they? So glad you have the summer but there will be even more special moments ahead. I promise. You watch and see! 😀❤
Thank You for sharing this lovely and loving post. You have many good times with your daughters. Your girls are beautiful as is their mama. Enjoy the Summer together. God Bless. Joan,Marion and Marilyn
What a great list of things to do together. know you all will have a great time with good memories for later. Enjoy your summer together..........wish I had daughters to share things with.........