Weekend Life + Fancy Pants Down by the Shore

I'm just catching up from this past weekend. It's Thursday, I know! What can I say, the last week of school for Nico has been filled with PTO parties, activities and duties. But today we officially start summer vacation. I'm not sure who's more thrilled, me or Nico.

This weekend we celebrated with our annual Father's Day picnic at my Dad's. It's the one thing my Dad asks for every year, for us to gather and me to cook his favorite foods. So I start on Saturday shopping, prepping, cooking and on Sunday while the Dads rest and the kids swim, I man the BBQ. On Sunday night I fall into bed exhausted, but happy. Happy to have so many great Dads in my family.

 These three are growing up much too fast. If I could keep them this age, I would. They are just the right amount independent, innocent and opinionated. I love just talking with them. Their perspective makes me smile.

She is loving everything neon. Who would've thought THAT would come back? I told her that back in the day I wore fingerless neon gloves and gummy bracelets like Madonna. She asked "who the heck is Madonna?". Gasp.

Nico lost another tooth while snorkeling in the pool. He  comes out with blood dripping down his chin, hands me the tooth and then jumps right back in. Ahhhh...little boys.

Every once in a while I take a picture and really capture their personalities. In this one I got that plus their relationship. My nephew with his sad little eyes and my niece who is the epitome of bubbly and strong. She protects him fiercely even though he's older. They've been through a lot. I must scrap this one!

And this little pip hasn't changed all that much. He's still trying to conquer that shark (see below).

This is a monochromatic layout I made a while ago for 2Peas. I used navy, turquoise and light blue paper and embellishments from the Down the Shore line by Fancy Pants.

I started by laying down wide strips of patterned paper in a horizontal pattern. Next, came the two 4x6 photos. To offset all these horizontal lines, I layered the embellishments in a vertical line along the left side of the page. By alternating tags and envelopes I created punches of color and different shapes to the otherwise boxy page. The circle shapes in the buttons, flair and envelope enclosures are also an important design element - they add movement to the page. The monochromatic color scheme and staying with one collection pack, made this page quick and easy to put together.

And the photos from last year on the page and the one I took this year prove - the more things change, the more they stay the same. I have a feeling Nico will still be trying to wrestle that shark at 21.