Second Half

Our trip to Maryland was great, partly in the DC area and then off to the beach with Lolo & Lola, and also my sister and brother and his family.  The three amigos had great fun at the beach, water park, and amusement part, and just hanging around the cottage too. 

This iceberg exhibit at the Building Museum in DC was a big hit with Bea & Miles!

I guess devil ears is a developmental thing because these two, six months apart, couldn't get enough of them!

Tony's 50th birthday was a blast and we got to catch up with many family members who don't see often enough:

Linden had a sleepover and these girls just love each other:

Anthony took Bea out to Virginia, where he met Nate & Dominic at the Lego BrickFest,

while I hung out with former CT friend Eman and family.  The girls had some great playtime at the house after brick fest, putting on an unforgettable performance of numberous Olympic events!

(This almost 13-year old girl is so very happy when she realizes, upon seeing the suitcases out and being packed, that she's invited along on the journey!!!)  Here she is at  NJ rest stop, looking cute as can be:

We came back home to more Olympics, finishing up summer homework, getting entries ready for the Woodstock Fair, 

celebrating the completion of the library's summer reading program,

and spending lots of time with Maryam, mostly at the lake,

but also at home too with Legos, iPad and outside.  She has been a big  and wonderful part of our summer!

We also snuck in an afternoon with the Flotildes family, and Bea & Jill spent the whole time in the water:

Samm's birthday party is always a nice time for the class to gather shortly before classes start.  Bea enjoyed sporting her Olympic gymnast hairstyle to this party:

And no summer is complete without a morning of blueberry picking, and days to follow of muffins and pies. This particular pie was gone in less than 24 hours and both started and finished off by the littlest family member:

So now we are going through school clothes, washing the backpack, fixing up my office, and getting ready to say "hello" to Fall 2016.  It's the first not-stifling-hot day in a very long time today and the air feels very much like back-to-school air.  To everything there is a season. This summer has been incredibly wonderful.  I am so glad I picked the career I did so I could spend so much time with my child.  Each day has been absolutely priceless.

Catching Up on the least favorite parts of summer....

Time at the lake with friends and family, time with numerous cousins (and other extended family members), a wonderful trip to Utah, Idaho, Wyoming, and Montana, including horseback riding and Yellowstone Park, an Olympics Tea Party, a 2-night stay at Rachel's, including a day at Canobie Lake Park, a pedicure downtown, perfecting her handstands and cartwheels....this list of activities for the first half of summer vacation is jam-packed!  Yet, when I asked Bea at the halfway point what her favorite thing of all has been, she shocked me by saying "Summer Reading program at the library." 

This summer has been one of my favorites ever with Bea, second only to our first one together in 2009.  We have had lots of swim time at the pool and lake, time with friends (some of whom are also family,)

time with relatives whom we rarely see,

hours and hours of reading, aloud, and quietly for us both. Beatrice fondly remembers last summer's read-aloud, Cricket in Time Square, and this year we really enjoyed The Wild Robot and The Penderwicks series.

Our trip out west, started on my very last day of school, was incredible.  

We saw so many sights we'd never seen before,

and tried new activities too!

We felt the majesty of the beautiful nature in this part of our country,

rented a car that who we will never forget ("Mr. Green"),

and spent long, wonderful days with these four kiddos on their farm. It was so very sad to say goodbye to these cousin-friends! 2400 miles is just too far away!

( and 1:45 a.m. is too late to be up waiting for your flight home to depart!)

After readjusting to life back home, we settled into some Putnam summer fun, including many Creativity Camp classes at Michael's with Weezy, a pedicure downtown,

and, inspired by her cousin Sadie, practicing hundreds of cartwheels and handstands.

Near the end of July, we headed to Rachel's for a couple of days, stopping by Pho Sure on the way, our new favorite Vietnamese place.  Their bubble tea did not disappoint!

Nor did 48 hours with one of her bestest buddies!

For years, Bea has been begging me to host a "tea party" a la the Fancy Nancy book that she loves, so we spontaneously had one.  She threw in an Olympic-theme curve ball right before, so we went with it.

Gold medals all around!  We are very excited to watch the Olympics on TV.

But, after hours of putting in these photos and figuring out when/what to write, these last two sum up Bea's favorite part of Summer 2016 so far, time at our local library. The Summer Reading Program, for which she earns awesome prizes from local businesses, along with yoga club, summer lunch, and the smoothie club, make it her favorite place.

Off to Maryland tomorrow!