Weekending

 A two -day weekend is just far to short.  Especially when the weather is spectacular and your city is chock-full of beautiful places and wonderful things to do.

We kicked off the weekend with a relaxing picnic at Horseshoe Lake Park.  We've got ourselves a little routine there:  eat pizza, feed the ducks, run in the field, play hide- and-seek.  Having our friend Donna, and her sweet little dog Cheyanne, spiced things up a bit.

As did this great game, lava rocks, wherein we ran from rock-to rock to avoid the lava (aka mulch) an turned to lava monsters if we stepped off. Its amazing what will amuse these children sometimes.

 Running with, and being licked by, a tiny dog:  highlight of the evening for sure.  I love to hear Jack giggle when he is around animals.

 Back at home, we continued our rockin' Friday night by felting.  May have to make that a thing.  First Friday Fabric Arts, anyone?

Saturday:  Our inaugural weekend of  "The Morehouse Children Do All the Sports."  Off to swim practice at 10...

 Home for lunch and chores and then time to bake in the September-heatwave sun at soccer...

 (check out my favorite tree in the background of this picture!)

 For all his talk of not really wanting to do soccer, Jack had a great time, played his heart out, helped others, worked on his passing game, and generally was a rock star.

He was also pretty well exhausted by the time we made it to Chalkfest.

We sure are notorious for packing way too much into a day, and we did pay for it when Jack's drawing wasn't working out the way he planned and he lost his mind...  but he got it back together and we ended up enjoying our time at the circle.

We duly created art...

 Washed our hands in the fountain...

 Climbed trees....

 ... and appreciated the work of others.  What a great excuse to be out on a beautiful day. Music and people everywhere and the camaraderie of shared purpose filling the air.
Love our city!

Today:  no sports practice!!  So instead, Ivy and I filled our day by attending church, where there was a special event after-- the doll and superhero tea party!  This is what it looked like at the beginning.  I don't know what kind of crazy tea parties you go to, but at Disciples Church they involve silly string and slime and a  whole lot of cookies.  I should have gotten a picture of the disaster zone I picked Ivy up from.  She had a blast.

 We treated ourselves to lunch at the Chinese Buffet and then a trip to Columbia beach for the afternoon.

 Lucky stone hunting and dam building and watching some adorable dogs run and play... it was good.  Nat and I noted that even when we do not NEED to plan our lives around a dog, we find ourselves spending time in dog friendly venues more often than not.  Force of habit, I guess.  And preparation for the new puppy, whenever that may be.  Some days I think it will be any minute, we will need to get another dog SOON.  Other days I feel more comfortable with the state of cleanliness around our house and decide we can wait a while.  Either way it won't be too long, I hope, before we are chasing our own wild doggy around this lovely little stretch of sand.

Off to prepare for a short week of school -- three days on and then a day off (thank you Rosh Hashana!) and then just one more to go before the weekend again.  In the middle I have my appointment with the radiation oncologist.  Never a dull moment.

Holding the peace of today's lake with me as I head into the week...

A little bit of normal

Settling into my back-to-school routine around here-- with the normal level of accompanying exhaustion, stress, and chaos.  Totally normal-- just a few weeks late and with a teeny-tiny bit of extra soreness and anxiety...

Work-wise, it is a good thing I like to feel busy and needed-- because that is the kind of year it is going to be.  I've got a group of adorable, sweet, incredibly needy and exhausting students who are going to give me a run for my money.  I am not sure I am entirely up to the task, but I am going to just trust in my experience and past history of marginal success with my students to carry me through.  That, and my utterly amazing team of co-workers.  And a whole lot of coffee.

On the whole "recovery" front-- good news from a recent test (an oncotype, for folks who like precise terminology) which has identified my tumor cells to have a low risk of recurrence (a "3" to be exact) and thus, not needing chemotherapy.  That's just about the best news I could get at this point in the whole breast cancer game.  That and the 10 year survival prediction of 96% with hormone therapy alone.  Those are encouraging odds.  So now I get to head straight on to radiation, and who knew that would ever seem like no big deal to me...!  I have my first appointment to get that rolling next week, so will keep you all posted.

And on the home front-- now that we've given the kids a couple of weeks to get used to school, we have jumped into fall activities.  With a vengeance.  In addition to their regular ballet and soccer days, we are adding in swim team.  Two little Tigersharks, ready to go!

We will be taking advantage of the lovely new CHHS pool three (!) days a week through November. Two practices in, the kids are loving it-- and eating and sleeping very well on swim nights!

Next week, we add in piano, too.  May god have mercy on us.

Meanwhile, September is offering us beautiful fall weather (a brief cool snap around the time of Hurricane Irma, and now back up to sunny-and-seventy most days...) and plenty of fun and activity in our fair city.  It's always a challenge to fit all of our recreation into just two days a week, after the luxury of summer.  We are adjusting.  And doing a lot less housework, because something's got to give-- and you know it won't be our festivals and lake time.

Here's what we've been up to lately.

Nat and I were treated to a night off last week (thanks, Gram!) and after much deliberation (there's just too much to do in this city!!) we decided to forgo MIX at CMA and the Heights Music Hop in favor of this:

 An evening at Edgewater is never the wrong choice.  And an evening like this one?  The best and only choice, really.

 Loving the new beachhouse bar... Us and all the hipsters, hanging out at sunset.

 Also loving this lady, painting on the beach.  She had the most sublime smile on her face.  She looked like I feel when I am there.  A kindred spirit I've never met...

After a lovely, spontaneous visit to see a friend in Lakewood, we went BACK to the lake. There was talk of possible northern lights sightings over the lake.  We didn't see any, but we did see this:

It was a really great night.  I was so incredibly tired from my first week back to school-- but I am so glad we got out.

Saturday-- we went to pick up the kids for Jack's first day of soccer... and then totally blew it off in favor of going back the lake AGAIN, for the NEOcycle festival.  Responsible parent award to us!!!

Totally worth it, though.

I just love this festival.  It is the perfect combination, really-- booths of swag and spinners, artisans selling their wares, bike competitions to watch, dock diving dogs, live music, food and a beer tent... all with people randomly riding their bikes around, and the ease and relaxation of the the lake beckoning in the background.  Our kids genuinely enjoy this event-- they really, really like swag-- and everything is better when it doesn't feel like we're dragging them on a forced march.

Jack really rocked the slackline.  Thinking this may be a christmas gift...

 Did I mention there's a lake by this festival?

 And a beach house still serving ice cream?

 And a stagecoach?

And a triathlon relay going on right here?
Love this festival so much.

Sunday:  Loving on our community at the Open House for our new high school.  Seemed like the whole city was there.  People we knew left and right.  Happy people interacting and being positive about our city.  40-year alumns hanging out with current students. I helped out at the Coalition for Public Education table and had a great time talking up our agenda with nice, like-minded people.  Good times.  And a sweet-looking high school for my kids to look forward to.

 We also spent some time at the Art museum, where they've installed some fabulous new interactive tech in Gallery one, and had some terrific crafts and activities going on for families.  We thoroughly enjoyed all of it, from posing and painting with giant screens to making buttons and taking a guided tour with Artlens. This treasure, in our backyard!

And this week:  Fall is peeking around the corner...

The leaves are starting to turn, the fall light golden...and just like normal, we are tired and busy and ignoring the laundry so we can embrace this rich and beautiful life.  Lucky ducks, aren't we?