Fourth of July at the River

Surprise! Charlie and I snuck away for an extra-long weekend at my parents' river house for the Fourth of July. We headed down there last Tuesday night, and had a glorious and relaxing five days down there. My parents were there, and my aunt and uncle came for a couple of days as well. I've decided that you really need that amount of time (of more, of course!) for it to feel like a vacation. We truly got away, disconnected, and got some much-needed rest.

Before diving back into project mode here on the blog, I thought I'd show you a few photos of our time at the river and give you a little sneak peak of some of the projects we did while we were there. Details to come later this week!

We spend a good portion of our time hanging out on the screen porch, the lawn by the water, and on the dock - mostly reading, chatting and relaxing. We joked that during the summer, we don't even need half the house, because we hardly use it when the weather's so nice! We live outside. Even when it's hot, we get a nice breeze off the river that keeps the temperature really pleasant.

Don't we look relaxed? :)

We got out and had some nice time on the water though too - including a kayak adventure to a nearby lagoon. Jackson came with us and had the best time romping on a little stretch of beach and swimming and rubbing his face in the sand.

Yes, he wears a doggy life jacket. Protective parents much?

We had a lovely Fourth of July too. I love this Instagram of the American flag and white Adirondack chairs in the background. It just felt so "American" to me. Doing some work on those Adirondacks was one of our major projects for the weekend (that's sneak peek number one!).

Jackson was feeling patriotic and wanted to get in on some photo action as well, so he posed with the flag for me.

Just kidding. He just happened to be there. Right place, right time I suppose.

Charlie and I had an impromptu photo session in our patriotic garb just before sunset on the fourth. The light was so nice, and I really wanted some new photos of the two of us. My mom is a great photographer and took some awesome shots of us. I'll share more of those later this week along with a few tips on taking good portrait photos too :).

The following day, we rented a little sunfish sailboat for the afternoon. It was super fun! I mostly enjoyed it from my vantage point on the dock and in the water (though I did sail with Charlie on it from the marina when we picked it up), but my dad and Charlie had a blast taking turns on it all afternoon.

Charlie joined me for some swim time while my dad took the sunfish for a spin.

Of course, a trip to the river wouldn't be complete without a boat ride with Jackson as the figurehead. In his life jacket...

And I couldn't resist a picture of C as the boat driver. Isn't he handsome? (He's really gonna appreciate that comment :).)

That evening, we had one of the most gorgeous sunsets. I feel like photos never quite do them justice, but I loved this one.

Ahh. So nice.

On Saturday, we hit up the once-a-month local farmers' market. I could not get over all the gorgeous fresh produce we saw!

Pretty, huh? It was fun wandering around, checking out the different vendors. In addition to fresh produce, they've also got all sorts other things including handmade items, children's clothing and art. I picked up a small oil painting from an artist I've admired for awhile at the market. I'll have to show it to you once I get it framed.

That about wraps up the weekend, but I have one more sneak peek for you of a project I'll share later on this week. It involves this gorgeous (not) orange kitchen cart. Is your interest piqued yet? Don't worry, it didn't stay this color :).

Did y'all enjoy your Fourth of July weekends? I hope you had a chance to relax and enjoy time with family and/or friends. I don't know about you, but I'm not quite ready to be back in "real life" yet!