It's becoming a tradition

for us to have a picnic to celebrate the start of summer break.

After visiting Saddie and Sue and Patrick at the hospital, we stopped by Wal-Mart and bought some chicken (popcorn chicken for Emily, BBQ wings for me and Hannah), mashed potatoes, macaroni, chips, and beverages, and headed off to Juliff's park. The girls seemed somewhat excited to be having a picnic, but it wasn't until we got there that Emily said, "I hope no one stole OUR tree. Do you think someone stole it, Mom? Do you think you remember which one it is?" that I realized this was something they treasured.

After we ate, they ran off to play in what they called their "house." Not sure exactly what that meant, but they were a little perturbed to see other kids playing in the sand.

Emily found a tree that grew blackberries??

And while they were entertaining themselves in the sand, I entertained myself with an In Touch magazine!! ;-)

I spotted this little guy not too far from me enjoying a little treat.

We stayed for a couple of hours, and then had to pack up to leave so they could get home and shower for karate.

Back in January, I posted about how my one little word for the year was "Create" and I wanted to focus on creating better relationships with my daughters, creating lasting memories with them. And for that reason, today was sweet!