Friday Favorites: Happy Summer!

As usual, I have quite a mix of favorites to share this week! I have a little bit of summer fun, a link back to an old post that has been getting a lot of attention recently, a link to a recipe that we just can't quit and some graduation fun! But first, Happy summer! Wahoo! It's summer and I couldn't be happier about it!

1. This is where I found our poochie this week - the Bean was snuggled up on the couch reading a book and our puppy curled up in her lap! It is officially summer for Miss Bean and she has lots of reading and puppy snuggles to catch up after a busy two weeks of exams! We biked to the library this week and the Bean took out 11 books! Nobody wanted to carry the backpack full of books home, but my Dad took one for the team! The Bean filled that bag right to the brim!

2. On Monday we had a wild thunderstorm! I love storms in the summer and this first storm of the summer was nothing short of perfect! I love heavy rain and loud thunder and this storm delivered. I was sitting in my room getting some work done when all of sudden, the sky opened up into torrential downpour. I'm hoping for many more thunderstorms this summer (with some sun for good measure, of course!). And I just looked at my picture and realized that it doesn't illustrate other than a roof! It was pouring though!

3. I was looking through some blog stats and noticed that my post about stand up paddle boarding exploded recently! My family went stand up paddle boarding while we were in Florida on Spring Break and I posted all about HERE! I posted kind of vaguely about the experience but realized I should go back through and edit it to make it helpful for others looking to try stand up paddle boarding! So, I went back through the post and linked to the company we used and shared some location information that might help if you are in the area and wanting to try yoga on SUP boards. And I totally think you should! It was one of the coolest things I have ever done!

4. Last night, we had these loaded taco sweet potato sliders for dinner and they were just as fabulous as I remembered! They made the most perfect summer evening meal. I posted the recipe a couple of weeks ago, but it is so worth linking back to because these sliders make such a yummy meal! And they are gluten free, dairy free, egg free and Paleo & Whole 30 compliant! If you are serving a crowd, these work great but they also make a great family meal!

5. These two girls are so precious to me and yesterday the older one graduated from 6th grade! Crazy! I have babysat them for years and I might always think of them as the little itty bitty girls I spent my summers with when I was in high school! Yesterday, as I was snapping some pictures with them, I felt so grateful just to have played a little part in their stories. I'm so glad we got some good pictures but we definitely had our fair share of bloopers! These girls know how to bring out the silly in me!

***I'm Linking up with Katie from Cup of Tea, Della from Della Devoted, Tif from Bright on a Budget and Becky from byBMG for High Five for Friday, Andrea from Momfessionals, Narci from Grace and Love blog and Erika from A Little Bit of Everything for Friday Favorites, April from Smidge of This and Christina from Carolina Charm for Five on Friday and Amanda from Meet at the Barre for Friday Favorites.

I hope this weekend kicks off a fabulous summer for you!