Summer wrap-up

Today is Friday, which means we have had four blissful days of returning to school, which means returning to one routine, three schedules, one uniform, three backpacks, two packed lunches, and some much needed peace at home for Mom. It's been so long since I've blogged that I'm not sure where to start. I believe that blogs are much better when they track the day-to-day details of any given subject instead of trying to sum everything up, but since I've avoided the blog in favor of summer laziness, I will try to summarize without boring.

Michigan's new law mandating that schools not begin before Labor Day gave us a long, luxurious summer which also needed to be filled with activities to keep everyone from killing each other. The weather in Michigan this summer was perfect for just about everything except swimming, save for a handful of hot days. The hottest day of the year topped out at 92 and arrived just in time for the first day of school. So for the most part we were busy with sports camps, ballet, art class, trips to the pool and beach, bike riding, trips to the park and library and general neighborhood merrymaking with friends.
Each of the girls spent a week with my parents in Carmel and at the lake. They all enjoyed having alone time with Nana and Grandpa Bud, going to the Children's Museum in Indy and swimming at the cottage.

We attended the third annual Hojnacki family reunion at Indiana Beach which was as big a hit as ever with the kids and grown-up kids alike

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Sophie and Lily celebrated their eighth and fifth(-and-a-half) birthdays together at the park with a gaggle of friends and then a trip to the zoo

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Lily learned to ride her two-wheeler

Sophie and Lily went to soccer camp

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Lily and Grace took ballet for two weeks and Sophie took an art class at the library.

Dave and I were able to get some R&R in as well. I got to attend the wedding of a good friend in L.A. in August

and Dave is off next week to canoe down the Green River in Colorado with three good friends from high school. (Just don't mention the movie "Deliverance" and he'll be fine)

Our family vacation was a camping trip to the Pictured Rocks in the U.P. of Michigan. We rented the same pop-up that we took on our trip out East last summer and had a great time. The camp sites up there are out of this world: right on Lake Superior, white sandy beaches, beech trees, dunes and very few people for miles and miles. The star show at night was spectacular. The camp host thought we might be able to see the Northern Lights one night, but we were not so lucky.

Otherwise newsworthy events include Grace cutting her own hair and getting a cute new pixie cut from my hairdresser. The mullet that she gave herself just wasn't a look we were going for. Her speech has kicked into over-drive to the point that she now rarely stops talking and especially loves asking questions, "why" being an all-time favorite right now. Her speech issues have migrated over to articulation, which is still a problem since others often have a hard time understanding her, but the vocabulary is making leaps and bounds every week. She goes to school every morning on the school bus and comes home around lunch time. There are eight kids in her classroom, and even though the other Grace from last year has moved on to Kindergarten, ours is still referred to as "New Grace" by several of the boys. She doesn't seem to mind.

Lily started all-day Kindergarten in her brand new uniform and has come home from school more energized and happy than she even did from half-day school last year. She has a new friend named Ella and gets to eat lunch in the cafeteria and have rest time after recess.

Sophie started 2nd grade and, in a new era of independence walks to and from school every day. I feel woefully cut off from what is going on in comparison with Kindergarten and even 1st grade where we knew her teacher well and often dropped by at pick-up. Now she is upstairs on the second floor where parent intrusion is frowned upon and so we are biding our time until open house night to see how things are going. I suppose this all goes with the territory, but it is hard to get used to after years of involvement and shepherding. So far we have gotten only good reports from her and she is happy to trot off to school each morning.

I am looking forward to two relatively quiet months (save for soccer on Saturdays, Sunday school on Sundays, violin on Wednesdays, Speech on Tuesdays, pre-season basketball work-outs, room mothering Lily's class, homework, laundry, meals, etc.) until basketball starts in November. I will also be teaching two sections of German at Aquinas College right down the road starting in January when the German professor there goes on sabbatical. In two weeks I will be attending my 20th high school reunion in Carmel. I have already caught up with some old friends and am looking forward to seeing everyone (who I probably won't remember) back at home. I hope all who are reading this are healthy and doing well. As we push onward into this "new year" and look forward to the election in November, we wish you all a safe and happy Fall!