A Short, Hot Summer...

Labor Day weekend is almost upon us and in little more than a month we'll be back on the road. Though the summer has gone quickly, this is the longest we've stayed in one place since we started our travels and we're both getting itchy to get moving. I'm looking forward to traveling again but hating the prospect of leaving my family.

Katie and Jackson have busy schedules even when school is out but I've been babysitting weekly while Becca works. Babysitting...doesn't seem like the right word anymore since they're far from babies but I haven't been able to find a better word! I did have to bail on babysitting one week. Jack and I both came down with something...stuffy sinuses, horrible coughs. took over two weeks to recover and I'm still coughing some.

We took advantage of the campground's Saturday night outdoor kids' movie one weekend. It was fun but I was a veritable buffet for the mosquitoes!

We've gone to Barnes and Noble a couple of times and I've discovered a trip there can be an all day affair with these two! Becca and I are both avid readers so it shouldn't be a surprise, still...how great is it to have grandchildren who can happily get lost in a bookstore for hours?!

School started a month ago for Jackson who goes to a year round school. He's an adorable third grader! Katie started middle school this week. She's in the sixth grade and looks super cute in her new uniform!

We've yet to visit Boombalatti's and introduce Grandpa Jack to their wonderful homemade ice cream, but it's in the plans. Also on our agenda is a pedicure for Katie and me. Time is short and definitely tighter since school has started but we'll make it happen.

Jack and I took a day trip to the Raleigh area a couple of weeks ago and met Glen and Joanna for lunch. It was about a hundred mile drive for each of us. We met at a Mexican place in Garner that I found online...La Cocina...we were not impressed with the food but we had a great time visiting!  I don't know why I've never thought of doing this before. Unfortunately, meeting Ken and Ciera wouldn't work with Ciera's gymnastics schedule. We'll get to see them all when we visit Greensboro in October as we start our travels.

Ken emailed me some photos he took of Katie and Ciera while they were visiting last month. They are both eleven...just six months apart. These photos are two of my favorites. Such beautiful gymnast cousins!

It has been so hot this summer that Jack and I haven't gotten to do some of the outdoor things we wanted to...the heat seems to bother us more than it did when we were younger. With September on the way and hopefully some moderate weather we will have the chance to get out and do some of them!

One of the things we are planning is a day trip to Myrtle Beach next week. We hope to find a little leather shop we visited a couple of years ago and get a personalized bracelet for Chanoa to replace the one her little sister flushed!

We have two events coming up  in September. Jackson's ninth birthday and the arrival of a new granddaughter in California!!