So long summer!

In less than twenty four hours, I will be up at the crack of dawn, screaming at the kid's to hurry up and eat their breakfast, begging them to brush their teeth and running to the bus stop - all before eight o' clock. It seems surreal and much too soon.

We celebrated the end of summer to the fullest. We spent Friday night up north at the cabin. We took hikes through the woods, fished, made s'mores and basically just enjoyed the quiet of being there for the last time this year. We always say that we will spend time up there in the fall, but life gets hectic with school schedules and everything else that comes up, so we rarely do. I hope this year is different. It is so nice up there in the fall, I really hope we can find some time to spend at the cabin and enjoy the surroundings in all the fall crispness and color.

Saturday afternoon we went to my Aunt and Uncle's house on the lake and we had hot dogs, swam and went for a boat ride. The boy's were totally excited to jump off the boat into "deep" water. Once they got out there, the excitement turned to apprehension. I am sure it is a little freaky for a kid (even with a life jacket on) to see nothing but water around them and think "do I really want to jump off of this boat?" They jump into water over their head in pools, but the sides are in their peripheral vision. They both eventually jumped and were very proud of themselves.

Sunday we went down to the spectacular at the beach and the kid's went in the jumpy houses, played at the park, rode on the elephant and got their faces painted. How can it get any better than that? Throw in some carny food - onion rings, lemonade and sno-cones! Yum-o! On the way home we stopped at Grampa Paul's to visit and the kids, as always, did some exploring. They love to ride in Grampa's golf cart, see the giant cranes, walk on the fishing boats and barge, and pick up the gravel in the driveway. At least they have learned not to throw the gravel in the marina. Last night we rode our bikes down to the beach and swam and played on the beach. We stayed down there to watch the sunset and it was awesome!

This morning we got up and headed down to the Labor Day parade. As far as parades go, it is not very exciting. Mostly just unions and politicians, but the candy throwing is top notch. I swear my boy's came home with more candy than they get trick or treating. It is just crazy! I give it a few days then sort through it and Trent takes most of it to school to give to his students. We do not need that amount of candy in the house. The boys have been playing with their friends all afternoon. I went to the store to stock up on all the essentials for lunches this week. We are grilling out some steaks for dinner tonight with Grama Bonnie. Then it will be time for baths and packing up the backpack and we will all hopefully hit the hay at a decent hour.

Good-bye summer! Please don't stay away too long!

Little Miss Wee watching the sunset.