Goodbye Summer

September. Actually September 11. 8 years since the attacks in NYC and WA DC. 8 years. Seems like yesterday. We were watching Disney channel. Alex was 4. Mom called and said turn on the news. And there I sat, in stunned disbelief watching the tape loop over and over again. Watching the second tower fall, then watching it all again and again and again. Alex said "why does that building keep falling down?" Time to turn it off and try to sort out all the emotions that were swirling around in my head. What the hell was happening? What next? Where? When? Katie, Sarah, Allison and Brittney were all at school. As far as I knew they were safe. Then the Pentagon, then the plane crash in Pennsylvania. It was all too much. It was all too scary. Then days passed and slowly and with time, life returned to some sort of normal. Now here we are 8 years later.

We've had a fairly good summer, all considered. Alex did break his collar bone right after school got out then he ran into a bar and cut his forehead requiring 13 stitches. But that was the extent of the drama for the summer. Not perfect, but not horrible either. Thom consented to TWO mini vacations. One weekend at the cabin and the other a weekend in Yellowstone. We camped in Mom and Dad's new 5th wheel and had a wonderful time. Allison, Sarah, Alex and I took a 15 mile bike ride on the Hiawatha trail and had a BLAST. Allison and I took a hike to Morrell Falls. 5 miles round trip. We've hosted Pug club nearly every Sunday this summer and count 13 pugs as members. So fun to see them all running around playing and having a great time. I've also enjoyed getting to know their owners. We hosted the 3rd annual neighborhood ice cream social and had some new neighbors to meet. Nice to catch up with everyone and have a laugh or two. So, all in all, a good summer. School is back in session, and the routine is in place. I miss the carefree days of summer but do like a nice routine.
Bittersweet.