Surprise! I celebrated my 40th birthday with a very fun party. My oldest daughter dragged me to the mall to keep me out of the house, which almost backfired because I'm not really a shopper or a fan of malls. Everyone hid on our upper deck, and when I came outside they shouted and threw balloons down at me. (Despite knowing that I hate balloons!)

 

Violins of Autumn celebrated its pub day on June 19th.

We visited my hometown, Kincardine, for the annual Scottish Festival.

     

In my husband's hometown, we saw Alice Cooper and Iron Maiden in concert. Billion Dollar Babies was one of the albums I loved to put on my parents' turntable when I was in 1st grade. It was freaky to actually see Alice in person, standing right in front of me.

      

We camped at Inverhuron Park, one of my favourite places. The weather was great for the most part, but on the day we left it rained all night and all morning. Packing up a tent campsite in a torrential downpour... fun!

      

My husband and daughter saw Bruce Springsteen. 16th row! Are you as jealous as I was?

      

I don't have photos, but this summer we grew a vegetable garden. I didn't realize how cool it would be to run outside and cut off some broccoli or pick tomatoes and peppers when I ran out! I also rode my bike, but not nearly as much as I wanted to, travelled to visit family, floated around the pool with cocktails, and did a tonne of yard work. And that's it. Summer's over for another year!