What a summer! It raced by in a blur of travel and friends and fun. They always do, I suppose, but I swear I wasn't home more than 10 days this whole summer! And why start in August... ?
Our final vacation of the summer was close to home but still felt like a magical getaway, because we got to be with some of our favorite people in the world. Being with our Hiram friends is always a recipe for stepping back in time. Wherever we are, we recreate a little of that utopia that was our college experience. And to have our families together too, our children playing together... well, it was a just a really great 4 days.
(a quick visit to the barn for these girls first though, after all of July away..)
(and some professional development and work in my new classroom)
Leigh and Blaine and their son Wyatt joined us from Denver.
Leigh found us this great house in Tremont with a full game room upstairs, and our teens moved right into it.
There was this perfect little park a block away, with giany swings overlooking the city. That's where the adults gravitated every time we were given a chance.
What college-friends trip would be complete without playing inappropriate card games with the assembled children?
A visit to University Circle....
... and then Jen joined us and things got even MORE fun.
Beaching, day one.
Beaching, day two...
A day in Medina (a nod to our original house plan, the Medina McMansion, which was adjusted when Kate ran into some difficult circumstances and could not join us)
Majestic Meadows (so much magic, as always)...
Then off to the Medina county fair!
One of my favorite parts of the trip-- singing along with Leigh and her ukele.
And just like that, off we went, back home (20 minutes away!) to soak up the last week of summer vacation...
Bonus prize, though: we got to bring a Jen home with us! Here we are having the MOST fun at the West Side Market on the way home...
And more fun at Cocktail Choir at Van Aken (Jen was there but sat out the singing)
Off to Strasburg Sunday for a relaxing afternoon with family...
... and home for more gathering with friends, on our porch...
Soaking up a bit more summer sun at Euclid Creek...
(my frist few dahlias of the year!)
And then it was off to the Medieval Faire. Ivy's friend Vio couldn't join us this year but several of my chorus friends could. We were happy to finally get the chance to introduce Ivy to Bella, Mika's daughter. They got along fine, bonding over daggers and corsets.
It was a really special day, marked by two thunderstorms, being gifted a free dagger at one shop, matching corsets for my girl and I, excellent fried pickles, and time with friends.
In the midst of all the fun... we also managed to put the (sort of) finishing touches on Lucknow, just in time for Mike to move in on the 15th. There is still much to be done but it has a working kitchen and bathroom and really nice red doors and I am very proud of the work we did.
Treated myself to seeing Audra McDonald at Blossom...
... and then it was time for school.
First day with students went off without a hitch. My kiddos are the cutest things on earth and while I am certain there will be myriad changes and challenges I will take a nice start to the year.
The second day of school... it was back to Blossom! This time to see Pentatonix with Ivy and Melinda and her fam. It was a memorable evening for sure-- huge storms that led to an hour long rain delay (so many storms this summer!), during which time the van battery died... but triple A to the rescue. The show went on, Ivy loved every minute, and I didn't even miss too much of it.
It was worth everything to see these kids singing their hearts out to Bohemian Rhapsody during the encore. And to sing Hallelujah with Ivy on the way back to the car.
Getting spoiled- ANOTHER cocktail choir night to end the week! This time back at Wizbang, with chorus friends making the trip up to join our crew of regulars, and new friends to meet as always.
Saturday ended up being stellar. Jen and Nat and I went downtown to see this art installation at CPL...
... and then Jen wanted to play more so Nat dropped us off at Public Square and we spent the next seven hours wandering downtown, getting street food and drinks, sneaking into the Rock Hall, hearing live music, and enjoying a Tiki Bar a WHOLE lot.
My magical friend is such a gift to my life. How wonderful to have a true "adventure day" with her before she headed home the next day.
I'm so grateful to have ended my summer soaking up time with my family and my amazing friends, from all different parts of my life, in this fantastic city of ours.
Ad I type its been another whol week since this photo... but I'll pause for now and see you soon for more details on the start of the year, Jack's 16th (!!) birthday, and other little things like that...
