Sunshine in My Pocket

I have a nasty head cold, there are no clean spoons in the house, there are multiple baskets of laundry, and everyone in this joint is stressed and slightly grouchy. This must mean? Yup, we are back in school. I never did get around to posting about our summer because I was too busy living it (how's that for a novel concept). I feel like I need to post now, so I can remember the peace and relaxation. Maybe, just maybe, I can take those good feelings and slip them in my pocket to pull out when one of the many children in my care is flipping out. I can remind myself and them that this is just a fleeting moment. Good things will come again. Without further adieu, here is our summer summary (say that five times fast) in no specific order.

Caroline went to Great Britain. She had a wonderful time, took amazing pictures, and brought back wonderful stories and gifts. Lily and I spent that time swimming, going to the library, and hanging out with friends.

We flew to Rhode Island to visit my step-mother. We got to see her new house and played tourist with her. We toured The Breakers and The Green Animals. The Green Animals was the summer home of a wealthy family from the turn of the century. The entire garden was full of animal topiaries. I had such a blast taking pictures! I forgot how much I love photography. We played mini golf in the pouring rain and laughed our heads off. We had a kayaking adventure paddling against the tide. We went to the beach and enjoyed such mild weather. The beaches were gorgeous. I love Northern beaches. We took a night time trip to see Saturn through a telescope. We went thrift shopping and got ice cream. We went out for a seafood dinner. We played Bocce ball in the backyard. It was wonderful to see my step-mother so happy. It was truly the most relaxing and amazing trip.

Lily read 20 books, and she got her ears pierced for meeting her summer reading goal. I read 16 books and renewed my love of reading! We watched a lot of movies and America's Got Talent. I also watched my fair share of HGTV.

Lily and Rob took a trip to visit his parents in South Carolina to visit his parents. She had an awesome time.

Rob's mom came to visit. We went to the zoo. We also went to see Guardians of the Galaxy. That was a ton of fun. We took our annual trip to the used book store.

Everyone got to see the movies they had been waiting for this summer: Maleficent, Earth to Echo,  X-Men Days of Future Past and Guardians of the Galaxy.

We went to the pool and swam a bunch. Lily took swim lessons and passed to the next level.

Most importantly, we relaxed and just were. I was hoping that we could store all of that peace and draw from it during the school year. We barely made it through a week.