The End of Summer...Sigh

It's been a good run. Three plus months of enjoying the days, flexible schedules, playing here, working there (those household chores just keep a comin'!), doing this and that...well, it all ends now. At least that's what it feels like. We've sure enjoyed our summer, and while it will be good for all to get back in a routine, I will miss our carefree days.

Here is a sample of Ken's past week: Tuesday - work till 4:40, grab Nathan, head to soccer practice at 4:45 (Ken is the coach of N's team), come home at 6:20, scarf some food, head to meeting from 6:30-8:30 pm. Ugh! Thursday his schedule basically repeated. They won't all be like that, and I'm not complaining; on this particular Labor Day we are grateful for good jobs. Perhaps all who have a job are? Anyway, I'm praying for a smooth transition for all. Professional development days/teacher meetings last week were good, but long -it's my only 'full time' week of the school year and reminds me how THANKFUL I am for my part-time position!! Our new HS principal is so competent, experienced, on the ball, and a good motivator - yay!

I'm teaching in the mornings this year. Seth will be doing some preschool with his friend Kristyn at Kristy's home and is excited about that. Aaron is fascinated by their one year old, Oliviya, and hopefully won't sit on her. Kristy is a blessing to our family - so sweet and patient. Any preschool suggestions or ideas are welcomed, as we're still figuring that out.

Usually a week or two in, and we've all settled into our routine. N & R are overall happy to go to school, though Robyn says she would just like to be home with me. Isn't that sweet?

We had a nice trip on the Lake Express - it's a huge boat!! I took video of Ken driving our van onto the ferry. Perhaps if I attempted to post online, I could. That seems like a lot of work. The cabin was spacious and we sat with a table in the middle of four seats on each side. A nice retired lady was also in our section of eight seats....thankfully all were well behaved and she seemed to like kids! A group of chiropractors from the West MI area sat across from us and I couldn't help but listening to the interesting conversations they were having. I wondered if they gave free adjustments on the boat ride? No, I didn't ask!! Milwaukee had great sites and the children's museum was a hit. What a great place! Our outdoor hotel pool was pristine and 84 degrees - perfect! That was another highlight. I headed to Reiman Visitor Ctr with Aaron one evening and got detoured 5 - yes 5 - times by construction. The 'ole GPS (we call her Maggie) doesn't know about construction....so by the time I got there (taking 45 min instead of 15) I only had 20 minutes in the place. But their outlet store had many good finds - my favorite was a new Slow Cooker cookbook. It will be fun to try new recipes in our Crockpot. Oh, and I forgot the kids' total favorite: the Jelly Belly Factory! The original and biggest one is in CA, but this one seemed big to us. It's between Chicago and Milwaukee, right off the expressway, and the right price: free! They took us on a Jelly Belly tram all around the factory warehouse - shelves stocked floor to high ceiling with tons of boxes of candy. We saw via video the process in action. Of course there were free samples at the end - a bag with one of 49 different kinds. Their store had more samples and some candy at good prices. My favorite: very cherry. Interestingly, that is the most popular variety of Jelly Belly. Ken's favorite: malted milk balls!

Just as we were getting ready to get something to eat and then head back to the dock, I received a cell call. The recorded message explained that it is of highest priority to the Lake Express that their passengers are comfortable. The current lake conditions would be very UNcomfortable for passengers (i.e. high waves, stormy conditions), so they were cancelling our boat. SO, around that big lake we headed. We were glad it was on the way home it was cancelled; after our busyness and excitement during our three days, ALL FOUR kids slept the first 2.5-3 hours of the trip. But can anyone explain why Chicago has traffic jams at 6:30 Sat. evening? 45 min of slowdown...then home at 11:30. A good family getaway. Half our boat fare was refunded, too.

After this past week (four days) of crazyness, we headed up to my brother's cabin. The guys and two oldest kids from each family headed on an adventure: canoeing (Ken said they canoed two hours and waded around in the water 1 hour), camped overnight, canoed another hour Sat AM, and Bronya picked them up around noon. The were filthy and happy!! Bronya & I thought shopping sounded more fun. While they were gone, we drove to Pentwater, a beautiful tourist town on a peaceful lake with sailboats all around. It was lovely! We checked out the cute shops and finished with ice cream. We decided that was our idea of roughing it. ;)

Well, if you've read this far, you deserve a prize! I'll try to update about how the first week goes. To God Be the Glory this school year for our kids and teachers!