“Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it.”
― William Arthur Ward
We were able to sneak away for a few days and just spend some time together as a family. We went to Kalahari Resorts in Ohio and spent a full day playing in the waterpark, the arcade, and snuggling up in the queen-sized beds. I am so thankful for that time – I didn’t bring my computer, or my fancy camera, I didn’t even get a single photo of the boys in the water. But, it’s all in my brain. Every splash, smile, “momma” and “yee-haw”. We had such a blast!
I feel like both boys are growing up so darn fast! I want to hang onto every day and really make our days count. It’s so easy to get caught up in work, school, whatever you have going on and be lazy and not want to make the effort to do special things. But that’s what life is about – these moments, and I want to make the most of them.
This little trip of ours was just a first –
I want to have many more little day trips to special places.
I want to take more walks,
visit more parks,
swim in more lakes.
I want to do it all with my family this year.
I’m just so darn thankful to be their mom. They help ME grow each day. They make William and I stronger. They just flat-out make everything better – and I don’t ever want to take their specialness for granted, ever.
What are YOUR favorite ways to make memories with YOUR family?
FAmily time is the best. I love your photos. We love spending time doing anything really. Movie night, eating out, going on picnic’s, taking in a movie, etc.
When I was a kid there was nothing better than playing skee ball with my parents. Now I love playing it with my kids. 🙂
I love what you did and sharing it – reminded me of the trips with my son and hubby to the National Parks and Beaches – and the learning about each other more – and my hubby and I still go – to swim in more lakes and take long walks and hike to the top of the mountain to see forever
I hate how fast they grow up! I was just looking at baby pictures of my littlest one who is now almost 6!
I love to unplug, and truly spend time with my family (even though we have a little family of 2 + a dog). It’s still pretty special to get and give undivided attention to one another.
The photo of him baking is just too precious! Family time is just so important, thanks for sharing.
One of my favorite ways to make memories with my family is traveling. It’s something that my parents and I did a lot when I was a child, and it created memories that I’ll cherish for a lifetime. 🙂
Some of my favorite memories are when my son who was only 14 months old at the time got to meet his great grandmother. They both really enjoyed each others company and it was great to see my grandmother so happy. I’ll never forget it!
Aww you’ve got some great pictures here. We make memories lots of ways, but I think the ones that will stick most are the little ones we do every day. 🙂
Your pictures are so cute. I completely agree- children are never to be taken for granted and they’ll grow up before you know it. We like to do a lot of the same things- swimming, the waterpark, arcades and just random day trips. One of the easiest, quickest and more cost effective ways (we’ve found) to create a family outing and memory is to go to the Farmer’s Market. We kill two birds with one stone- the children are out, learning about our city, supporting the local economy and learning about healthy eating…but there’s also so much to see and they love being able to pick their own items out, while it’s also cost effective for us because we have a grocery bill anyways. Getting breakfast together at the indoor market is cheap and they enjoy it so much that weekends where we don’t go to the market are met with “Awh”s lol.
I love spending time with my family, whether we are just vegging at home or going on a vacation. Just last night our kid decided to sleep in our room. When I woke up at 5 a.m. I saw that even our two cats where snoozing away on our bed. I so love seeing this and am very thankful for it!
We always try to spend one evening a week together. I have two teenagers so it can be hard to get everyone home at the same time. We love to bake goodies and watch movies.
Taking the time to slow down and appreciate the little things & small moments- those are the best ways to make memories, or at least to me. Yeah, it’s nice to get out and do stuff too, but I’m going to remember the small things.
I cannot wait until the snow melts and I can take my boys outside. I love keeping us active and experiencing fun things.
Omg what cute photos!!!! We just got my princess her ow trampoline and she loves it :):)
Its so important to spend time with family and just log off the internet world, I do not yet have kids but can not wait to have such moments.
I absolutely love these pictures! Your kids are absolutely adorable and they remind me of my son!
My first thought reading this post – there is just something about seeing a photo of a sleeping baby that makes you think that everything is going to be OK. My second thought – I do take tons of pictures to make memories of my family. They love going through my albums to relive moments and see a different perspective of the things we’ve done together.
Aww, such lovely family moments captured in your pictures. I really love the quote at the start of your post too, it’s so true.