Goodbye Summer

One of my favorite summer pics!

I took this pic on our last day of vacation. Chris and I took the kids to the beach, which meant we packed just about everything we owned in our car, drove the 2 miles to the water, parked across the street in a sandpit parking lot, unbuckled the kids, unloaded all the junk and slowly inched our way down to the sand with kids in tow. It was windy that day, like it had been all week. But the tide was WAY out and there was a small tide pool about halfway up the beach, perfect for Luci to play in without the waves knocking her down. We dumped all our stuff on the first available patch of sand we could find and threw our shoes on top so that it wouldn't fly away, then made our way to the shallow water. Instead of eating the sand this time, Luci splashed in the water and laughed. We stayed in that tidepool for an hour just digging and playing in the sand.

I always get nostalgic this time of year. Cause it's time for me to return to work. And while I love my job, I also love my kids and sleeping in and having a clean house! Another reason for the nostalgia is that I realize another summer has passed and my babies are another year older. This year I've been thinking a lot about my favorite moments of the summer. Here are my top ten:

10.VBS--We had bible school early this year and there was an hour or two (maybe more like a day) in which I thought this had to be the stupidest idea we'd ever had! But it turned out, like it always does, to be WONDERFUL! The kids had a great time (and so did we!) We had, I think, 11 kids saved this year....which in itself is more reason than ever to celebrate and call our efforts a SUCCESS! GOD IS GOOD!

9. Walking Girl--Luci took her first steps! Of course she still crawls much more than she walks, but it was a start!

8. Swimmer--Eli learned to swim! Of course he still wears his arm floaties more than he goes without, but he can swim under water and will jump in with no float!

7. Friends--Many nights were spent just hanging out with some of our dearest friends and their kids and I LOVE that! The Lord has blessed me with some of the best friends a girl could ask for and I'm grateful.

6. Visits with Granny--I took my kids to visit my gran occasionally this summer and one day there were 6 kids (all relatives) there and I remember thinking back to my childhood when all 6 of my first cousins, my 4 siblings and I would run all over Bear Branch. I love that my kids will have a similar experience.

5. Late Night Ice Cream Runs Sleeping In and Naptime! (Need I say more!)

4. Cookout & Fireworks on the 4th--Perfect holiday! The fireworks were great this year at the lake and all the kids LOVED them (even Lu, who I just knew would cry!)

3. TWILIGHT!!!--I FINALLY broke down and read the entire series this summer and HOLY WOW! What a love story! I loved every minute of the entire thing and am seriously thinking about reading it again! :)

2. The Beach--I LOVE the beach! It is one of my all time favorite places and I love that even though it's not my husband's favorite place, he goes anyway to make me happy! I love being away from "life" and enjoying family time.

1. Just hanging out with my babies....being with them every minute reminded me of all the little things I miss while I work and made me thankful that I'm a teacher and I get summers off.

So that's it....that's my summer. Can't believe it's over! Saying goodbye to summer means saying hello to preschool for Eli and another year of 5th grade for me. Another reason I love my job, all the possibility that comes with August!

Happy New School Year to all!