Farewell Summer

Can you believe that summer is finishing and fall is beginning?  It's the transition stage where we still wear flip flops and paint our nails, yet we change our decor and dream of Pumpkin Spice everything (or at least I do!).  August was spent trying to soak in as much summer as possible! My husband told me I needed to rest more, but I countered it with I would after summer ended. :-)

Some of my friends are teachers, so we worked to squish in zoo trips, park dates, and lake trips before they headed back. At one point, we were making plans everyday so my daughter assumed that was the new normal, and started asking, "Where we going today, mama?  Where we going tomorrow?" Needless to say, she's had to adjust back to having "home days" too.

(our farewell trip to the spray park)

During August, my husband and I had the blessing of taking a weekend away while the littles stayed with grandparents. We read, talked, played board at, and (gasp!) slept in!  It was some much needed time away to breath, that probably won't happen again for months to come. We specifically chose a farm place where we could enjoy the quiet time, but that also had state park hiking trails near by.

What I've loved about August:
~summer sunshine and time with friends at the zoo, spray park, etc.
~Garden produce!!!

~Watching my toddlers develop a love of reading, especially the two of them reading together. :-) Today, the oldest was retelling a familiar story to the younger and I was impressed with her recall of story details!  It melts my heart to hear her reading/singing, "I'll love you forever, I'll like you for always, As long as I'm living, My baby you'll be" from Love you forever by Robert Munsch.

~Working more on Preschool as the days get cooler and summer activities slow down. 

~Reading: I'm currently reading Just Open the Door by Jen Schmidt, and loving it! One of the main points is how we make "hospitality" overtly complicated and think we need everything (house, meal, timing, activity, etc) just right to be able to have people over.  And how people just want to feel welcomed....to your mess, your life, your blanket at the sports practice, your hotdog and potato chip picnic, etc. In her book, she shares how life changing simple invitations can be, which match her book tagline, "How One Invitation Can Change a Generation". 

~Watching: Nothing at the moment, but This is Us resumes shortly!

What are you enjoying about this transition from summer to fall?  I'd love to hear in the comments!

Journeying with you,
Felicia