WE'RE BAAAACCKKKK!

The Boyers are back for Summer 2023. This time we've brought along some friends. My parents. 

It’s been 9 years since I started the blog. Well, 9 years since the summerthatIblogged first came to life in 2014 and then had a random semi-refresh last summer in 2022 (Like growing herbs and painting and knitting, I had great intentions going into it lol). It’s easy to see in hindsight that while I thought I created the blog for friends and family to follow along, I realize, I really created it for me.

For us. For my family. For our story. For preservation purposes and memory purposes and the “omg I thought you were old but look how little you were” purposes.

I get a weekly email from the blog hosting provider telling me how many people viewed it that week, and while most of the time I think ‘those stats are a total lie - they just say 110 people read my blog last week bc they want my money’, (albeit like $10 a year). And sometimes I think, hmm. I bet 25 of those were me.

You see, as life goes screaming by and the kids literally go from toddlers to teenagers overnight, you have a deep realization that this time with them is fleeting. And while those toddler years were freaking brutal in the moment, it’s become incredibly fun to look back at…even videos of Luke’s exorcist child meltdowns now crack us up. (Words I could have never imagined muttering 10 years ago.)

So yes. I admit. I go back and read that blog a few times a year. I can’t seem to just read one. I have to start from the beginning and read it straight through. It’s like when a song comes on my shuffle, or whatever the kids call that these days, I have to listen to the whole thing…something feels incomplete in me to skip ahead.

So here we are, about 45 minutes from landing in Paris, France. Shawn, me and the kiddos. And my parents. #ourfaves

I know Shawn could tell you the approx. (exact) date that we started talking about taking this trip with them….it had to be 9 or 10 years ago? And guess what? Well, after that conversation, that went into the goal notebook. (If you don’t know my husband and/or his intense affinity for all things goals, check out the OG #1 blog post. Preview? There are 12 “buckets” broken into 5, 10, and 15 year goals.)

Anyway, it went into the goal notebook, and guess what? The sposs is right again…writing down your goals DOES work! :) Truly, this trip is not unlike many things in my life…it wouldn’t have happened if it wasn’t for Shawn.

Not only did he goalwillness this to happen, but he legit planned the whole thing with our travel planner. I just show up where I’m told. I don’t even hold my own passport. (Trust me, this is on purpose.)

When we land it will be 8:15am on Saturday, June 10^th in Paris and I will have slept for about 2 hours because my teenage daughter has 7,019 phobias and one is going to the bathroom in a small space and/or in a moving object. So, you know, I had to go in there with her in the middle of my baby REM sleep. She is snoozing away. I never closed my eyes again.

But we are gonna roll in hot and go off adrenaline bc we have a full day. Straight to Giverny for a 2 hour tour of Monet's Gardens, lunch and then start the 2 hour trek to our hotel, followed by dinner at 7:30 tonight. Shawn doesn’t know it yet, but I have a goal. It’s to take a four-hour nap at some point. We’ll see. (Let's pray my parents are still upright by dinner!)

For now, I’ll leave you with the below for a little more context on our trip. This is my out of office I have on my email at work (I once got the most hilarious OOO from a woman on maternity leave and I decided that was a fun way to build rapport with a stranger, key as a sales rep, so now it’s always a poem!)

I’ll try to update as much as I can. I didn’t tell Shawn I would be blogging, so it’s currently not on the agenda. :) So grateful to have this opportunity to do a trip like this. Some pics on the right of the sunrise from the plane and the Gardens, which were SO beautiful but SO HOT. I need a shower, nap, espresso and wine. Stat.

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The year was 2012, my husband, 2 toddlers & newborn son, all sitting around our den.

Waiting for my parents to drop by, as time with them, we love to spend.

They popped in regularly to provide some much-needed assistance,

Since they're our favorite people, there was zero resistance.

It was then we started dreaming about taking a bucket list trip,

Where we’d travel around France and Italy, and great wine we would sip.

We’d walk along the beaches of Normandy, soaking in the emotions of history,

We’d get lost in an ally in Paris, our destination? A mystery.

We’d rent a villa in Tuscany and take a cooking class together,

We’d have a total blast, no matter the season or weather.

Because my parents are the best, the most fun people we know,

They both had cancer last year - a curve ball life did throw.

What were we waiting for? No one could answer.

Forget “someday” and “one day”, forget the word cancer.

You’re getting this message bc we finally made this dream come true,

And I am soaking up my people, engaged with my crew.

While I confess I love my work so much that I might break out in hives,

I know I’ll never regret taking this time off with my family by my side.

Good thing that the goGetters are truly a rockstar team,

Because I can leave work behind and go fulfill this dream.

So feel free to reach out to my teammates listed below,

I’ll be back July 5th, hopefully with a fully refreshed glow! :)