I can’t believe the summer is coming to a close – in some ways it seemed like it lasted forever (six months or so), and in other ways it was done in a heartbeat. It means good changes, but I will miss parts of the quarantine summer, like all the extra time we had time we had together, or all the extra time I had in the mornings to take long walks through the neighborhood trails.  And getting to watch so many amazing sunrises.

Luckily, although I may be too busy in the mornings to watch the sunrises as often, I can still watch the fabulous sunsets.

While my harvest season is over for quite a few things in my garden, luckily my raspberries are still going strong. I am in heaven, especially with beautiful and delicious giant raspberries like this one.  I pick them every other day, and Arthur and I enjoy eating them all, and sometimes we share ;).  I am the only one in the family that will pick them, because the bumble bees love my raspberries too. The funny thing is, I don’t mind them, and they don’t mind me – we each do our thing without bothering the other, and they make my raspberries thrive.

With it being the last week of summer before school starts, we decided to get in one more hike.  This time we went with my friend, Amelia, and her two girls, and we explored a few different trails at Nixon Park.

The boys decided to lead the way, Amelia and I were in the middle having a great time catching up, and the girls followed behind us, laughing and talking all the way.

My favorite part of the trail was this amazing bridge that wrapped around the creek. The hike was breathtaking, as usual – Pennsylvania forests are so pretty. It was a beautiful day, with gorgeous weather, and wonderful company.

We also had some big goals reached this past week.  At the beginning of the summer, I gave each of the kids a stack of books they needed to read before school started, and then as a reward, they could pick a restaurant of their choice for a celebratory dinner.  Arthur’s stack of books was mostly picture books that I wanted him to read, and a few small chapter books from a couple series we have that he hadn’t read, like “The Littles,” “Cam Jansen,” and “Flat Stanley.” With all the choices of places to eat, Arthur picked McDonald’s, and he was so happy with his happy meal – especially the toy.

Derek’s books were a bit harder, longer, and more diverse.  I also required he and Lily to rate and review each book on Goodreads, or they could choose to write me an essay ;).  They both picked writing a review, instead of an essay – ha ha! I had him read a lot of wonderful classic YA and Children’s books he had never given a chance, like “The Phantom Tollbooth” (which he loved), or some other books to stretch him, like a Zane Grey book, or some fun reads like a Clive Cussler novel and “The Princess Bride.”  Derek read sixteen books in all, and he picked Olive Garden for his lunch, and we had such a great time together enjoying our meal.

Lily’s stack was a bit bigger – I may have gotten a bit out of control when I was going around the house finding books I wanted her to read, because her stacks had twenty-eight books total. I picked a pretty diverse selection, everything from “The Help” to “The Scarlet Pimpernel,” to “The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane.” I had classics I wanted her to read, social and historical stories, and just sweet, fun books. She enjoyed them all, but her favorite was “Hope Was Here” by Joan Bauer, a book I had bought her a year or more ago that she hadn’t read yet. She loved it so much that she had me read it.

To celebrate, she chose Texas Road House, and since my mom was here by there, Grandma even got to come.  We tried to go there for lunch on Friday, but when we pulled into the parking lot, one of the employees came out to tell us their plumbing was broken and that they were closed.  Crazy! We checked the other Texas Roadhouse in the area, only to discover that it didn’t open until after 3pm.  Since Lily had worked super hard, and had her heart set on going there to eat, instead we went for dinner and Derek babysat Arthur – which meant Kevin got in on the fun as well. I am so proud of all the hard work my kids put in to reach the completion of this goal!

Summer coming to an end, also means the end of summer Brain Quest work that Arthur has been doing.  Some days he complains, but for the most part, he is awesome about it and works hard.  When he got to the end of the math section, there were a few pages of regrouping, and he didn’t know what to do. I pulled out his base ten blocks and we walked through how to do it, and he picked it up like a champ.

School starting also meant that it was time for haircuts for the boys.  It is funny how just a little trim can make them both look so sharp and put together.  Wish I had remembered to get a picture of Derek as well, but one of Arthur’s before and after will have to do.

All summer long, Lily and Derek have been mowing the lawn for our friends, the Stacey family.  They are gone right now with med students renting their house, and so the kids go once a week and take care of the yard.  I am so proud of them and how hard they have worked, especially considering that they still have to help out mowing our massive lawn as well.  At least they get paid for this one, unlike our house ;).

Today, we finished off the last little bit of summer with a water balloon fight between the boys.  They had a blast, and it made Arthur’s summer, as he. has been begging to have a water balloon fight for ages.  It was so much fun to watch and I loved that it was our last summer activity of this very different summer.