In Denial

It's been September for over a week now.

Kids have been back to school since yesterday.

The first day of fall is still two weeks away, but summer is officially over.

And I am in denial.

I haven't flipped the calendar over.

I'm still wearing flip-flops.

I haven't ordered any pumpkin spice concoctions.

Despite the fact that sunset is now before 8pm, and there are red leaves showing off around the neighbourhood..

Instead I choose to re-live summer, flipping through my mental rolodex of the past two months.  Like days spent at Wasaga Beach.

 And our weekend trip to Boston. 

The seafood!  I could've eaten lobster rolls all day.  I really miss them.

I took 535 photos of whales.  Most of them look very similar to these.  I may have been slightly obsessed.

We ended our weekend on the beach at Good Harbor Beach.

We spent a fun day in Toronto, and thoroughly enjoyed Ripley's Aquarium.

The African Lion Safari was a great way to kick off summer.  Posts here, here, and here.

And a relaxing week at a cottage was the perfect way wrap up summer.

In the end we didn't accomplish everything on our Summer Bucket List, which I expected, but we did manage a bonus trip that we hadn't planned on.  All in all, it was a great summer.

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Friday, it's Friday!

Instagram this week.

Wasaga Beach.  My feet are really white.

Dusk and storm clouds at the lake.

Dessert at our new Coffee Culture.

Puppies.

Quinoa salad from Freshii...another new spot in town.

On our way to the beach we stopped at Walmart, hoping to pick up some shovels and buckets.  Our beach stash is in sad shape, thanks to most of it being tossed at the end of last summer.

Buckets and shovels were nowhere to be found.  It was August 3rd.  Instead we were greeted with shelf after shelf of books, paper, pencils and backpacks.  Seriously, the kids don't go back to school until September 8th, and summer technically doesn't end until September 23rd.

What the ....?  I love (I mean really love) back to school supplies.  I'm a sucker for new notebooks and fresh pens, and I'll get excited about back-to-school shopping in due time, but we're still in the middle of summer here.

Ugh.  Why does the world conspire to move ahead so fast?  We still have four weeks before school starts, and I'm not ready to give up enjoying this summer season.  Not by a long shot.

Because winter is coming.

Ali Edwards is doing A Week in the Life this month.  Have you ever done this?  I tried it last fall, and I tried A Day in the Life in the spring.  I love the idea of the whole project - I just haven't been very good at it.  

But that won't stop me from giving it another go.

Also, I want these Peanut Butter Cookie Bars.

And these Zucchini Blondies.

My to-read list is ridiculous, but that didn't stop me from checking out this collection of 53 Books You Won't Be Able To Put Down.

And what is up with everyone picking up and traipsing over to Italy?  Now I want to go to Florence and Positano.  Sigh.

Happy Friday, happy weekend!

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Dog Days of Summer

It arrives like clockwork every year, this feeling of melancholy as summer draws to an end.  Next week everyone will be back to school.  We'll be up early, packing lunches, filling out forms, and adjusting to new schedules.... and I'm not ready.  

The uniforms are washed, and we have fresh pens and paper, but I'd much rather be packing up for another day at the beach.

It was a working summer, and although we tried to plan weekend outings, we didn't get very many items checked off of our summer to-do list.  It's disappointing, and adds another layer to blanket of guilt I sometimes feel as a parent.  I'm grateful for the years I was able to spend at home with my kids when they were smaller, but oh how I wish I could have had another summer with them.

I'm thankful for a big sister that took her brothers to the city for a museum outing, and a baseball game.  And for a big brother that remembered to include his brothers in after-work fishing and golfing. 

And for an impromptu trip to a small local zoo.  'Cause you're never too old for the zoo.

 

We had a wonderful weekend in Kentucky, and the boys had a fun cottage weekend with their dad, but I can't help but feel like I failed them somehow because we didn't get to do all the other things that we hoped to accomplish.

So here we are, heading into the last long weekend of the summer, wondering what we can squeeze into these last few days, and wishing that summer could last just a little longer.

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Beach Weather

Glorious summer weather.  This is beach weather.  

Hot and humid.   Stepping outdoors is like stepping into an oven.

Not that we're complaining about the heat, mind you.  We get enough winter to ensure that we enjoy the heat while it's here.

There's something magical about the beach.  Wide open skies, cool fresh water, soft warm sand, and the smell of sunscreen.  Laughter. Lots of laughter.

Ferris Bueller got it right "Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it."

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