End Of Summer

I cannot BELIEVE summer is over! I'm not quite sure where it went, but I stayed relatively busy and relaxed which is all I ever ask for! The husband and I went on two grand adventures with friends this summer and truly lived the roadie life. First, we took a road trip to Denver, CO with our friends Kate and Alex. Anthony and Alex were riding in a bike race so we packed the car and the bikes and made the hilly (I use that term loosely) drive to the Mile High City...and I fell in love!! We had a fantastic time walking everywhere, trying new types of food, wearing jeans and sweaters (because we could!). It was an amazing trip, and the boys did awesome in their race (and the girls did very nice with shopping at a farmers market and going for a run :p)

Next up was another road trip with our friends Freddie and Austin to Portland, OR which allowed me to see parts of this country I never thought I would! We drove up through Nevada and camped in Lasson National Park. Then we drove to Crater Lake which was jaw dropping-ly gorgeous, I do believe I was speechless for a good portion of the time I was there. The blue was indescribably blue, I will be going back to take the hike down and swim around in that water...I mean how can you not! When we finally made it to Portland we stayed in a little bungalow in the hills so it didn't even feel like we were staying in a city. We were able to go to Seattle to visit with Anthony's family, he was able to see his dad when they (Austin included) went for a hike on Mt. Hood. Freddie and I decided to be city girls and go to the zoo, get coffee and get dinner for the boys. We also went to Maltonomah Falls which was an amazing site!

Now, I'm back to the grind of a teacher's life. It's very difficult to get back into the groove of planning and prepping but I'm slowly arising from my stupor of this summer and will be ready to meet and greet my delightful students. I'm so very excited for this year, last year was my first year in 3rd grade so now I feel a bit more comfortable with the curriculum and feel like I can step outside of my comfort zone even further then I did last year. Pushing my own limits is what keeps teaching exciting for me, seeing how far I can take 8 and 9 year olds...my favorite reaction is, "your kids did that??" and I gleefully reply, "Oh, yea. That's nothing!"

Here's an Animoto video of my summer...