Summer Roundup

I’ve been super lame about posting anything all summer. I’ve been busy! I had two plays in six weeks (Much Ado at the American Shakespeare Center Theater Camp and The Brothers Grimm Spectaculathon at EMU–last show, today at 1:30!), as well as work, prepping for teaching this fall at Bridgewater (speech class), managing my kids, and keeping my coding business running.

I didn’t even take that many pictures. I literally took only one set of pictures with my “real” camera in the entirety of July.

So here’s a quick roundup of our summer.

That chick provided hours of pure entertainment. I guess I don’t have any pictures of her now that she’s all the way fledged and grown-up-looking, although she is still a lovely chicken. We had her in the house for quite a long time, as we’ve been having issues keeping the goats away from the chickens…

We had 10 “Noah days” this summer, and we were happy for them. He is a sweet kid, and he gets along well with both of mine, which is nice to see.

We had play dates with other friends at playgrounds, Riven Rock, and the arboretum. There are worse places to spend the green summer, that’s for sure.

And the river, always and forever, the river.

Petra’s puzzle skills expanded, going from simple toddler puzzles to being able to do 150-piece big kid puzzles!

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Puzzle, June
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Puzzle, August

Silas decided he wanted to start a book club, so we recruited some friends, everyone read The Indian in the Cupboard, and then we had a meeting. I provided some discussion questions as a jumping-off point, but Lillian decided they were a requirement. 🙂

First meeting of the book club, Lillian presiding.
First meeting of the book club, Lillian presiding.

Long, goat-related story, but I’m finally getting that water feature I’ve wanted for years (if we ever finish digging it).
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I also took them to an art gallery and they were polite and made conversation with the artists and didn’t touch anything! I had fun and wasn’t freaking out every second! Progress!
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We visited Kennywood with JC’s family, and also spent some time in the Canaan Valley with them. This included a trip to some caverns, where Petra was quite excited to wear a hard hat (“Just like Aunt Heather!”)

We also spent a lot of time in Winchester, including celebrating my granny’s birthday in June (flag day).

This summer was a little strange for all of us because it was the first summer when the kids actually spent a significant amount of time away from home. Because I was directing a camp show, I had to work during the day (usually my rehearsal schedule is in the evening, when JC can mind the children). My dad, step-mom and in-laws split a week of childcare between them, and my mom and step-dad had them for several two- or three-day chunks through the summer. I’m so grateful that they are able to help us out like that, and the kids sure had a great time with them. Luckily their grandparents never spoil them….

In any case, we’re all glad it’s fall. Back to routines, back to “school,” such as it is, back to life as we like it–all of us home in our green valley, with the harvest coming in.

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