September is the new July these days, what with all the festivals and the lovely weather it brings to Cleveland. This year, in all its busyness and change, was no exception.
Headed straight from one lake to another... to take in the tail end of the Air Show, from a pretty good view on the shoulder of the highway...
Next up- Woofstock. Always one of my favorite days of the year. This festival gets better and better all the time, withfood trucks and an impressive beer garden and main stage live music, plus SO many booths of crap. And, of course, all the beautiful, friendly dogs. One of these years I am truly going to clear my calendar for the day and just settle in. One of these years when I am less busy, that is....
If it's the first Friday of the month, we are at Cocktail Choir. Our crew of "regulars" increases every month and it is always such a wonderful, warm, joyous event.
Meanwhile, September also found us settling into the school year. I have the very sweetest little crew of kiddos this year. Plus a few energetic first graders who are... an adventure... :)
Here I am with some of the sweeties, on our "STEM day" when we made and tested paper airplanes.
I am endlessly grateful to do the work I do. I may be tired and stretched thin this year but being with my students is centering and fulfulling, and a gift.
September in Cleveland is pretty.
Thurdays are for the barn...
... and the second Friday is for the Homecoming parade. This girl marched with the golf team, and let Holly and I sit near her for the halftime show. I love seeing all of "my" Heights kids out there on the field... and catching glimpses of Jack holding court with his friends up at the top of the bleachers...
Time for Chalk Fest! Another one of the best days of the year, and the glorious weather this year just took it over the top.
Nat and I tag-teamed the event as Ivy and Lillian committed for the duration to create their masterpieces. He snagged this photo of the sweetest moment later in the day... apparently children had been "feeding" acorns to Baby Squirrel all day. My heart could burst.
While she finished her perfect chalk butterfly, Holly and I spend a few hours creating the next iteration of Ivy's room... She'd outgrown the "book cave" under her raised bed, so she came up with an idea to turn the whole bed into a book cave. For the finished effect please visualize the floor of the room completely comvered in clothing and other random items. ..
Next festival-- the Waterloo Arts Fest. What a wonderful event. Yet again (theme of this year) time was too short to enjoy it fully but it is going on the list of "clear the day for it" festivals in the future, for sure.
Here's my gorgeous boy off to his SENIOR YEAR Homecoming dance with his besties. Just look at these grown up kids. I love them.
Holly and I took Lillian and Ivy to the Asian Lantern Fest and had the BEST time.
September is for beach days...
... and visiting the Chalk Fest again, at sunset...
Monday nights are for Orchestra Chorus... and after rehearsal- the Kensington with our besties...
Some of us don't love photos... but we all love this comfy little bar where we've become regulars and where the manager (a late middle aged guy) is a lifelong Indigo Girls fan and our favorite server brings us our drink orders and a plate of pickles without being asked...
Took Ivy to see Les Miserables and she absolutely loved it. I am a big fan of this girl's love of musical theater.
Next festival- the Flaming River Comi-con with these cuties and their mommas. We went out for Ethiopian food midway through the day and all the kids loved it! We bought too many witty stickers and enjoyed being surrounded by a wonderful, free-spirited, loving community of people.
I can't remember if I wrote about our ill-fated attempt to see John Legend over the summer? The time when there was such a torrential downpour that we didn't even get out of the car, and then the whole show was canceled due to thunder 30 minutes later?
Well, it got rescheduled. And... it rained again. But no thunder AND we were gifted excellent pavillion seats by a Chorus friend who could not attend on the new date. It was a magical night. We ran into friends, and enjoyed every minute of John's singing and stories. I may or may not have ugly-cried when he sang "All of Me". Couple of emotions wrapped up in that song...
September is for an occasional evening at home, having dinner on our porch with homegrown hydrangeas on the table.
And for picture day, with my sweeties...
And for one more festival to round out the month- Ingenuity Fest! While I have bee more wowed by this event in the past, it was still a great time. This year we found ourselves playing ping pong in a wood shop and building and flying balsa wood planes in an odd, empty room with striped linoleum... one never knows where the night will take them at Ingenuity...
Hey hey, it's Apple Day! Year 15 for this tradition and it wsa relaxing and wonderful as always. I am so grateful for our "friend family" and the chance to watch these kids grow up amongst the apple trees over the years...
Back to Ingenuity with my lady. Wore a sequined mini- dress that I picked up at a goodwill on our road trip because if you can't wear that ti Ingenuity, where can you? Ended up getting lots of compliments... I may have to find more excises to wear that dress!
So grateful for this full and beautiful month of festivals and family abnd friends.
Next festival- the Flaming River Comi-con with these cuties and their mommas. We went out for Ethiopian food midway through the day and all the kids loved it! We bought too many witty stickers and enjoyed being surrounded by a wonderful, free-spirited, loving community of people.
I can't remember if I wrote about our ill-fated attempt to see John Legend over the summer? The time when there was such a torrential downpour that we didn't even get out of the car, and then the whole show was canceled due to thunder 30 minutes later? 
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