summer's unofficial start

A largely unsuccessful trip to Southern States

Wildflowers from the side of the road

...and the resulting bouquet :) 

My brother found the tiniest turtle while weed-eating and we played with him for a few hours 

I named him Hamilton before setting him free

Patriotic mixed-fruit cobbler filling

When baked, the fruit didn't remain patriotic-looking :P

No bigger than a Splenda packet

Honey

Laurel

Wouldn't I love to eat breakfast in that gazebo every summer morning!

Sparkler bouquet

More speed please!

Confetti blaster

And its resulting mess :/

New garden!

It's been feeling like summer for a few weeks now and the official beginning is weeks away!  I guess a lot of people consider Memorial Day weekend to be the unofficial beginning to the summer season, myself included.  At the lake, the temperature hung around in the 90s with the humidity pushing the "feels like" temps up past 100, according to my cell phone's weather widget.  There was work to be done around the house but we still managed to keep cool swimming in the lake (the water is still refreshing--later in the summer, it's almost stifling to swim some days) and hanging out outdoors after dark.  There isn't much I can say more eloquently than some of the 50+ photos can show ;)