So Long, Summer

Where has summer gone?! It seems like just yesterday we were looking forward to two whole months of having Tom home and planning lots of fun summer activities. Now, we are just days away from the kickoff to football season (see ya in November, Tom) and most of our fun summer plans are behind us. Its obviously a bit of a bummer, but we really have had a great summer. After last year's crazy busyness of having a newborn and a new house, this summer felt much more relaxed. However, in a house with two little ones, "relaxed" doesn't really equate to "idle." We definitely kept busy over the past two months! When we weren't chasing Juliet around (a full time job in and of itself), we were spending time at the playground, or going on walks in the neighborhood, or visiting our friends at the nursing home, or trying out the local splash pads, or hitting the zoo, or grilling out with friends or treating ourselves to ice cream. We hit a couple parks that have been to my "Columbus To-Do" list, we went blueberry picking, we went to a minor league baseball game, we went to a fun children's concert, we got a few home projects done, Tom and I enjoyed an amazing weekend at home by ourselves (thanks Mom and Dad!) and we have a last-hurrah day trip to Lexington, Kentucky planned for tomorrow.

It seems like both the girls have grown and changed so much over this summer. When I look back at early June, Juliet was just entering into toddlerhood. In the past eight weeks, she has started walking and talking and has developed such a little personality (the words "stubborn" and "feisty" and "busy" come to mind). She has definitely left babyhood behind and is a full blown toddler now, who loves being outside, being read to, dogs, eating and finding ways to make us laugh. Most recently, she's added the words "Elliott," "Anna," "Elsa" and "football" to her vocabulary. "Mama" is still a rare occurrence.

When I look at Libby lately, I see such a little girl. I've gotten the chance to spend some fun one-on-one time with her lately (since Tom is around to occupy Juliet) and I just really can't believe sometimes how grown-up she is. She's beginning to read on her own (she loves reading chapter books with us at night!), she has a great sense of humor (with the exception of the painful knock-knock jokes she makes us listen to sometimes), and she's always good for a long conversation (like, really long...). Its crazy to watch the toddler who spent hours playing with princess figurines change into this little girl who spends her time creating super-imaginative art projects and chattering to her imaginary friends in the backyard.

I love the time we have had together this summer. It is a major, major perk of being married to a teacher. To get to spend two whole months exploring and experiencing and playing together as a family is priceless and I am so grateful for summers, especially this one. Our girls have grown, we've had lots of fun, and we've made some great memories. This has definitely been a summer to remember.