We went to a few new-to-us splash pads and parks around Des Moines and also got some visits in to places we love. We took 2 week long trips- to Mount Rushmore in July and Colorado in August. The boys and I spent time at our family lake house in Fremont with Grandparents Benakis. We also celebrated a family wedding in Chicago and got to spend that weekend with our immediate family in St Charles, and did the same with Kevins family at a family wedding in Minnesota.
Over the last 2 weeks, it has really dawned on me that summer is officially over! We were busy- but in a good way of having events on the calendar to look forward to- but not so busy we couldn't find time to just relax. Now, even though our boys aren't in school I've noticed a big difference in our rhythm of life now that school has started, or fall has come. It's kind of like "now what?!" so I'm having to readjust my expectations and excitement factors after our summer of things to look forward to doing.
In the last 3 weeks, we have been settled at home for long enough to:
-Wean Grant completely! Grant and I made it 13.5 whole months of nursing which is an accomplishment I was (and still am) super proud of. (Note to self- I could write a whole post about my experiences with Tyler and Grant, and I'd like to soon so it's all recorded for history's sake!) Grant and I are both (extremely?!) happy about weaning too.
-Graduate Tyler into his big boy bed! He had 3 glorious years of crib time but was ready for his bed and has done so well since we switched him.
-Spend lots of quality weekend time with neighbors. The summer is so full of vacations and random trips that it seems like we went through most of the summer without spending a lot of time with our neighbors. We had an end-of-summer block party and that really kicked off the start of spending a lot more time with neighbors on weekends. A few have tvs in their garages and with football seasons arrival- watching games, food, drinks, kids playing outside has pretty much been the norm for Saturday and even some Sunday afternoons. Having friends for our boys (and us) was always our hope when we thought ahead to buying a home in a neighborhood and moving out of our townhouse and so far our little corner of Waukee has far exceeded our expectations.
So, summer may be over but fall has begun and as that old song goes "for everything there is a season" and we seem to be navigating this new one well (for now!)
