The End Is Near

We're staring down the the final week of summer, determined not to let it go without a fight. I think many of us are having a familiar internal conflict -- sad to see the unscheduled warmth of summer days dwindle away but also ready for fall's consistency, backpacks, soccer, and new school friends. I loved starting school when I was a kid and I think my own kids may crave the familiar pattern of September as well. But, we have plenty of time for the fall rituals that await us. Before we head down that autumnal road, though, we were happy to give ourselves over to a final hurrah of summer loving.

We're pretty lucky ducks with our parents choosing to live in some pretty rad summer places. This month, our circus gave Maine a workout. We squeezed in a party, a play, a day trip to Rockport with moms and babes, cousin time, hangout time, mini-golfing, biking, and a final weekend of camping. Other than a few random one-and-done puking sessions and a little less sleep than I'd prefer, it was a perfect end cap to our summer.

These days were certainly lovely and I really have no complaints (outside of the puking) as we put the summer of 2014 to bed.

Five of the six blond monkeys

Not sure why this game was fun but it lasted a long time

This one seemed even stranger

This little cutie and I might just be very serious, very good friends now.

Until Jack unseats me and takes over the BFF role.

Choking? Hugging?

Meeting the characters after the play.

Evening bike ride while camping.

Looking out on Frenchmans Bay.

I think all tents should be sold with s'mores.

A quick stop on our bike ride in Acadia.

Looking out on Penobscot Bay from the only bridge tower observatory in the country. Who knew it would be in Waldo county Maine?

Another hug/choke?

 Exploring Ft Knox.

All Is Quiet On This Front

I wish I could say that we have been up to uber exotic things in the past month and a half, but, well, we really haven't. And, while I was recently called the "meanest mom ever" (credit for that to remain anonymous) for not signing anyone up for any camps, I seem to have redeemed myself (for the time being) by being incredibly committed to bringing good snacks to the lake. Yup, this is the summer of small victories. For us, this year, small was good. After doing a major move last year, and being commitment averse when it comes to children's activities (I mean c'mon, do we really need to sign up for fall soccer in MAY?), and wanting a summer fairly free of schedules, I decided I wanted to go low key for 2014. So we have done some trips to Maine, trips to Block Island, a trip to New York, the Cape and some various really fun day trips thrown in there (that sounds far busier than I remember being. But remember -- no camp due to mean mom). On our other (most of them) days we have gone swimming and hung out with friends. Aaaaand, that's about it. Oh, and we eat good snacks too. This year has been really great for us. Littles have made incredible strides (hah!) in their swimming. Bikes are getting ridden a lot. My garden is actually producing real, live vegetables instead of brown leaves on forgotten vines. It's nothing really special except it in that it's all special. These opportunities to do very little don't come around all the time and I'm basking in the mellowness and  relaxation (please note that I also break up fights, spats, wrestling matches, wooden toy throwing, shrieking, and whining a-plenty but I am currently wearing my very attractive rose colored glasses and I refuse to take them off). I have a feeling we'll be doing some more stuff next summer, which is good. I also have a feeling that some of us (even the mean mom utterer) will look back on this summer as a great one. One fairly free of demands and where the structure of our days was largely dependent on how much swimming we wanted to do. It's a pretty rad life, Charlie Brown... just not an overly exciting one and there is not one change I would make.

Butterfly catchers

These swimmies are soooooooo June 2014

Ferry shenanigans

Freshwater swimming on BI

Taking in the view

A little taste of RI's sweet nectar

More ferry shenanigans

Crazy berry picking in Maine

Propelling the future

The Dance Museum -- best dress up clothes ever, ever

A big fan of the giant ballet slippers

Oh, we also eat a lot of ice cream

Lots

And we celebrated some birthdays

Oh, these dress up clothes were pretty good, too.

Do you sense a theme? 

And a final summer selfie.