summer days to fall nights

The past two days have felt so much like fall and I absolutely love it! I know that it will warm up again and will stay nice probably into October, but I am so in the mood for leave piles and apple cider. Labor Day and the fair always signify the start of fall for me so I am going to honor the end of summer by posting pics from this beautiful summer.

Summer began Memorial Day weekend when I was at Family Camp with Holly. I enjoyed my first s'more of the summer (more on that in a later post), met new people, and had a chance to spend some time in one of the most God-filled places.

Later in the summer, Holly and I met up at the outlets to go shopping and catch up on life. She had just gotten back from Hawaii, so talk about her having a cool summer!

Then Sarah came to visit and we played on the playground and had a grand time being goofy and taking tons of pictures!

When Aaron was finally done with work, we went on a picnic at the mill and walked on some of the trails. I love going on picnics, and I hope we can go on another before it gets too cold.

Finally, was our trip to Mexico. We stayed at a beautiful, all-inclusive resort which included 3 pools and a beautiful view of the Caribbean Ocean. Every day we woke up and went out to the beach or the pool and I had a chance to read four books. Aaron and I got to go snorkeling twice and saw a nurse shark (I was super scared until I found out they aren't aggressive), two sea turtles, dolphins, star fishes, lots of colorful fish, and we swam along the Palancar Reef (which is one of the most popular reefs for diving). My parents and brother went scuba diving, but we opted out of this because of my fear of being that far underwater and my claustrophobia. We went into town twice and ate at two delicious restaurants, one touristy and the other was much more of a locals place (Senor Frogs and The Enchilada House - had 21 different kinds of enchiladas!) I know we probably won't get a chance to go back anytime soon, but I think it is something we will consider for the future. Next year we are planning to go back to Myrtle Beach again, and I'm very excited for that. We went 18 years in a row and then took two off (last year because of the wedding and this year because we went to Cozumel). I won't narrate all the pictures, but I'm posting my favorite ones :)

Blessings,
-Ashley