Summer officially started for our family (and Mother Nature) this week, and we couldn’t be happier. After a cloudy, rainy day on Wednesday, today’s PERFECT summer weather demanded that we spend the day outdoors. I couldn’t have been more happy to oblige.

One of the many reasons I never want to leave the city is the incredible density of public parks. Within six blocks of our home I can count at least five, and when we’re bored with those we take the scooters or our car to a different one just outside our comfort zone. Today I packed up a quick picnic lunch and took the kids to Mary Bartelme Park on the city’s west side. Rolling hills, patches of wild flowers, a playground and water features kept the kids busy for two solid hours.

Mack and Ben hunted for bumble bees in the Dutch clover:

And Mack perfected his art of petting bees, a skill my dad must’ve taught him! (The bees don’t seem to mind):

Evie and Vivian scouted out the delicate white butterflies that call our busy city home. Butterflies remind them of my great grandmother Gay, a women they never knew but talk about often. She always wore a butterfly pin on her shoulder, so every time we see one we think it is Gay flitting by to say “hello!“:

After so much sunshine, the kids joined me on the picnic blanket for tickles and cuddles. Vivian rested her head on my tummy and had a conversation with the twins “Do you like Hello Kitty? When you come out I will play Barbies with you. Do you like Uni my unicorn?”

The boys wrestled. Like they do. ALL. THE. TIME. But, it is just so much better to wrestle under the shade of an elm tree:

After circling the park on her own for a while, Evie rested next to me. The summer constellation of freckles dotting her nose and cheeks has really grown! She is becoming my big girl, and I wonder how many summer days like this I have left with her, when she wants to laze with her mom and siblings with no agenda and no real plan.

The twins will be here. Sooner than I often let myself realize. So, for now, I want to make the most of summer with Evie, Mack, Vivian and Ben. When the babies come their lives will change, too, and I hope they remember this simple start to another city summer.