Summer Reflections

I have not been a very good blogger this summer. It's been intentional, actually. We've had such a fun time playing the past few months as a family that I really haven't wanted to devote much time to technology.

Today was the first day of school for Zachary, which marks the beginning of whole new season for us. It got me thinking about what a great change of pace the past few months were for us.

We...

spent a few weekends at Grandpa's cabin,

celebrated Justin & Rachel's wedding,
went to the zoo,

went to NW Trek,

went hiking,

had a scavenger hunt at our local beach,

had lots of picnics at our local beach,

blew bubbles,

played with silly string,

played with water balloons,

had a family water gun fight,

tried new bike and stroller trails,

played on Kaanapali Beach in Hawaii for 2 weeks,

went to YL camp for 1 week,

picked flowers,

picked berries,

went to the Children's Museum,

ate over 100 otter pops,

had play dates,

went to free morning movies,

went to lots of parks around town,

grew pumpkins, tomatoes, lettuce, beans, peas and thousands of zucchini,

chased butterflies, and

had tons of family movie nights.

But more importantly we just slowed down. We...

read books (and not just Harry the Dirty Dog, but interesting adult books, too),

watched lots of morning cartoons,

stayed in our jammies till 10:00,

savored full, warm cups of coffee without having to re-heat them two or three times,

had dinner as a family most nights,

spent hours at the table coloring millions and millions of pictures, and

didn't worry too much about being in bed right on time.

It was a good summer. I don't know that I'm feeling too ready for the get-up-and-go (and go and go...) pace of the school year but I'm thankful for the seasons and how they offer us something new and fresh to look forward to. For today, I'm just thankful for a really terrific summer and hopeful for a really fantastic fall.