Summers End--August

This year I wanted to have a laid back summer with the girls. I intentionally didn't sign them up for camps or committed to any organized activity. I was nervous about doing this but in the end I was glad I did. It was the best summer thus far and I was sad when it came to an end. The one thing I did do was sign up for a gym membership. It was mostly for them because this gym has a great pool for the kids so we spent many afternoons there. We played a lot at home and went everywhere together. I mean everywhere. I adamently avoided the grocery store with all three and made friends with the drive-thru convenient store that saved me when we ran out of milk. I had minimal breaks but it was so nice not to have to be anywhere at a certain time. I think I will consider doing this again. The most difficult thing for me sometimes is just getting out the door. It was so nice to get that stress of my shoulders. Some pics below of our last month this summer.

Omar and I went out on our anniversary night. We had our big celebration on our Friday Harbor vacation. This was just a nice night out at a local pub with live jazz music.

The girls piled on when they saw me on Omar. Karina was napping in her room. I like this picture so much I am seriously considering cutting Karina's head off in another picture and placing it on this one. There's a perfect spot for it between Omar's and my head, don't you think?

We took advantage of JCPenny's free haircut offer before school began.

We spend many afternoons here swimming and having lunch by the pool.

The girls discovered a box filled with "bling" from our generous neighbor Lydia. This box with the simplest things (cards, beads, tin boxes) entertained them for hours just as I was starting to feel that the summer was seeming too long.

I'm going to give myself credit for something. I caught this butterfly just for Marisa because she wanted to touch it. We set it free later of course.

The girls invited their school friends for a tea party. It was fun organizing this and it was also a great way to get the kids looking forward to beginning school and seeing their friends again. I love the way the picture above shows my girl's personalities. Elena is animated and Marisa is intentionally shielding her face from the camera but nonetheless enjoying her tea quietly.

We found the cutest little candy shop on South Congress. They had a lot of familiar candy from my childhood.

Said goodbye to my good friend Anna who moved back to San Francisco. We taught together in Sonoma and I was lucky to spend another 3 years with her in Austin.