Oh hi there, start of the school year!

  Can you tell that the school year has started?  And that its been just a little teensy bit busy?  Some serious catch up is in order, here, folks.  

Here's the end of August for you.

First and foremost- this kid's 16th (!!!) birthday!  We celebrated with his friends -- that same group of terrific kids he's been spending time with since 7th grade- at Proximity golf.  It was a great afternoon.  We had the whole place to ourselves and the boys alternated between the simulators and mini- golf while Nat and I had drinks.  There is definitely a part of me that nostalgically misses the "old days" of giant, themed parties in our backyard.  But another part is relaly loving this laid-back way of approaching birthdays--  per the request of my "I don't like big parties" kid.  Making him happy while making my life easier-- win, win!

AND the kids's start of school-- 8th grade for Ivy, 11th for Jack.  Its just mind boggling that we are here in their school careers.  My babies!  But what wonderful young people they are growing up into.  Both kiddos are really rocking school so far this year (from my vantage point at the beginning of October I have evidential proof-- progress reports with straight A's for both of them!)  Jack is managing 5 AP classes, swimming, golf and working a few hours a week at the pool, with a great attitude.  He is all of a sudden a very motivated and driven kid, trying to eat more protien and lift weights to be in his best shape for swimming, keeping up with school work, and even cleaning his room on occaision.  Ivy, my teacher-pleasing sweetie, continues to be conscientous in all areas of school. She is balancing swim team and riding with her most preferred hobby- reading in bed with her cat.  Both kids have friends at school and come home with positive reports of their days.  Who could ask for anything more?

Because we just didn't do enough traveling this summer... we had an uneqpected day off school, the Friday of that first week back (no power in CHUH and at Lewis in Solon, crazy!) so we decided to take a last minute trip to Hocking Hills, which has been on my list to see for  long time.  We rented the cutest rustic A-frame (pretty much camping with a roof) and headed out to hike for the afternoon and evening. It wsa sweltering out but the woods and waterfalls were magical and the fun we had all together there made it worth the drive for sure. 

It was funny, though-- the kids had a little moment of maybe realizing how priveleged they are when they were like, "this is ok but we have been to way more impressive waterfalls before, like a lot"   Which is quite true, honestly.  I mean- Watkins Glen, right?   Lucky kids.

We really loved our A- frame.  The kids shared the loft and got along so much better than they ever do at home.  Nat thought I was a little crazy to suggest we do this last minute get away but we all ended up enjoying it.  Our family thrives in nature. 

Speaking of-  late August sunshine, anyone?  Our schedules this year make it hard for Nat and I to get our kayaks out together but we did share this wonderful day on the Cuyahoga, paddling all the way through the Flats and around to Whiskey Island.  Great views of our gorgeous city.

Next up:  September!

Early August, or, how to do the end of summer vacation right

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...