goodbye, summer

I wore long jeans today for the first time this season. I sit here now at my computer in a sweatshirt sipping a mug of hot tea, anticipating tomorrow with a mixture of excitement and a little sadness as the school year begins anew (both for my business student husband and kindergarden kiddo). The leaves on some of the trees have even begun to turn colors already.

I guess it's officially time to say goodbye to summer and welcome in fall.

Don't get me wrong, part of me is VERY glad to bid this summer adieu, as the end of the season meant the end of Zach's time away from us. But, that aside, I do really like summer. I like the long hours of daylight, the water play, wearing flips flops and tank tops, eating popsicles on the porch... The past few days have been decidedly chillier and while there's a lot about the fall season I'm looking forward to, I have a hard time separating that from knowing that winter is coming. And I know, I know, winter won't be that bad (last year's wasn't either, we survived, it was fine)...but still. I decidedly prefer to be warmer than colder.

I also feel the need to honor this shift, from lazy summer days to tomorrow when we'll begin the routine of school drop-offs and pick-ups and life generally feeling so much more busy. Both Donovan and his best buddy, Ethan, are starting kindergarden tomorrow, and there's that too because all summer long those two have been inseparable, playing together nearly every day, and now they'll each be in school five days a week and most likely their playdates will have to wait till the weekends. So that will be an adjustment.

This past summer was difficult and long and lonely in many ways, but there was also a whole lot of good in it. It reminded me how lucky I am to have so many amazing people in my life, like our families who were willing and able to visit and help out. And then there's Ethan's parents, Jeremy and Jody, who for some reason seem to think I'm cool or interesting or something (even though I don't like hummus) and who over the past year have become two of my closest friends, and were a huge source of support over the summer. I said above that D and E were inseparable over the summer, but really the same was true for us adults as well (it's funny when you find yourself thinking you haven't seen your friend in forever and realize it's only been a couple days). It sucked having Zach gone for nearly 3 months, but we had many little joint family adventures here and just days of hanging out together and I will always look back on this summer fondly because of it.

So, goodbye summer. Now, to bring on all the fall adventures...