There is something about special days. If you look hard enough you can find something to celebrate on all 365 of them in a year (May 9th - Lost Sock Memorial Day, July 18th - Caviar Day, etc. You get my point). But I’m talking really special…like significant. Days that mark the start of a new season are way up there for me. Today is the Summer Solstice, the longest day of the year, and official sanction to do exactly what we have been doing for the last few weeks. Berries are going to happen soon. Swimming happens daily (when it’s not pouring rain). Beach trips are all scheduled. Today we celebrated summer by adding another awesome beach day to our collection.

First, a word on this beast. She sleeps all the way to the beach. After we cross the bridge to Topsail Island and she sticks her nose in the air vent to confirm, she freaks out! Paws on the dash, whining, racing from window to window. Today was all of that, as per the usual. This time, though, her exuberance when we got out of the van gave her super puppy strength and she broke her leash. Not cool when her off-leash manners leave much to be desired and we were here for the next three hours. Epic Sigh. We made do, and she was in heaven for those 3 hours.
Speaking of being in heaven…

We love the beach. We are definitely beach people.

My mom joined us and celebrated the First Day of Summer with her first North Carolina beach trip!

Since we had an extra pair of hands to snap a family picture we took advantage. Please excuse the grimmace smiles…we were tired and I’d already made the kids smile a lot. Tired facial muscles are no laughing matter.

I hope that your first day of summer and all the rest of them this season leave you as worn out and content as our puppy was on the drive home.