The Tail-End of Summer

The summer is starting to wind up. The kids are back in school. The sun is rising and setting a little later each day. The evenings are cooler. The afternoon light is taking on that special golden hue that belongs to this time of year.

My petunias are still going strong but my roses and snapdragons are starting to fade and my chrysanthemums are signaling the coming autumn with their beautiful blooms.

We're starting to see pops of color in with the green leaves now, and a few fallen leaves line the path along the creek.

It's been a good summer and as my kiddos get older the end of each summer is a little more bittersweet than the last. But now I'm really starting to look forward to autumn which is my favorite time of the year.

What I Did This Summer

I just realized that I haven't posted here since May! We've had a full summer so there's lots to catch you all up on.

Our first trip this summer was to Oklahoma to see my husband's brother and his family. I would not make the choices that they've made, but that's the beauty of being a free adult; everyone gets to make their own choices. They're living out in the country, but since they're sub-leasing the land to other families in their church, there's no solitude, they're completely surrounded by neighbors. They have no windows or carpet in their home, and an earth closet for a bathroom. It's basically a DIY version of this, inside the house. But my nieces love caring for the animals which are all very cute, and the property is pretty.

My sister-in-law's garden

The lake behind their house

We got to see them all again at the end of June when they came to Colorado for my husband's grandfather's 90th birthday celebration.

My husband and son took a father-son trip to Utah. Then we took a family vacation to Costa Rica. It was very beautiful there. It was also really hot. Well, it actually wasn't much warmer than it's been in Colorado this summer, but the humidity made it feel extra warm. I basically couldn't move without being immediately covered in sweat. We spent lots of time at the beach and we took a hike in the rain forest. I did manage to read 3-1/2 books, and didn't log into work at all. I also discovered that traveling with teenagers is just as hard as traveling with toddlers, just in a different way, but I'm still glad we took the kids.

Cloud shadow on the hillside at the beach

Rock cliff at the beach

The resort where we stayed

Vines in the rain forest

Waves crashing on the rocks

Sunset on the beach

I'm currently spending the weekend at 9600 feet in Breckenridge with my daughter. We went out to breakfast this morning, then went for a hike and ate a picnic lunch by the river. Right now my daughter is working on her summer AP homework so I'm writing this post.

Sunrise on the mountain this morning

Hiking today

Daisies and old logs

The mountain stream

This summer I also discovered the Lore podcast and have been totally hooked. We watched Netflix's new series, Stranger Things and I can't recommend that show enough to anyone who grew up in the 80s as they completely captured the times.

Overall it's been a good summer. We've continued to have challenges with my son's behavior, but we'll keep working on it. I haven't decided if I'm ready to get back to posting regularly, or if I'll just check-in occasionally, but I did want to let you all know that I haven't fallen off the face of the earth!