Last Day of Summer

Today was officially our last day of summer vacation.  The last day to sleep in while Daddy headed off to work.  The last day to stay home and go where ever we felt the urge to go.  

The day started out as a jammie and waffle day and turned into an adventure.  Around 9:30 we decided to hop in the car and head to the girls' favorite orchard that reopened last week.  This is the same orchard that we thought was closing forever last fall--but good news: another family purchased it and are going to keep it going....so we had to check it out before school was back in session.  We sent the word out to friends and enjoyed our last day of summer with lots of fun!  

The girls love that this place has lots of hands-on opportunities with the animals.  Anna is a huge animal lover and Claire gets braver and closer each time.  Today she fed the goats with no problem....but wasn't so sure about the cow.  

I couldn't blame her, the cow looks intimidating with her big horns, but she's a sweet girl who loves to eat apples so carefully out of little kid hands.  

Sweet Sunny, the cow.  

This place is such a great place to learn about animals and how to approach them.  Anna was very careful to not scare the turkey that was wandering about.  

Of course, the best part of the whole trip is always a visit to hold the baby chickens.  Anna could stay in the chick shed all day.  She loves to hold these little cuties.  Claire was OK with petting them, but didn't want to hold them yet this year.  

We enjoyed a great picnic lunch and a wagon ride with friends.  The driver of the ride was very informational and told us all about the crops they grow and how they know if they are ready for harvest.  The kids enjoyed their sample apples and the bumpy ride.  

It was a great day at the orchard.  I'm certain we'll be back for a few weekend trips in the fall, but we certainly enjoyed this less busy day today, checking out a favorite fall hangout.  

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Summer reflection:

It's that time of year when everyone heads back to school and work (if they are on a school calendar at least) and everyone's first question is "How was your summer?!"  My answer this year has been "It's been one of the best summers ever!"  And of course, it really has been.  This summer has been awesome.  I'm not sure if it's because I just finished my master's degree and have found myself in such a great state of relief or if it's because the girls are 6 & 3 and getting around and out and about is so easy or if it's because I'm going into my 11th year of teaching and actually have the exact same class load next year that I had last year so have less summer work to do or if it's just my newer laid back, take it as it comes attitude that I have adopted that has helped this be the best summer yet.  

We have had scheduled activities; we have had busy weeks and days where there was a lot of running around.  However, we have also had easy pool days with friends, impromptu pizza parties with neighbors, fun new experiences via travel and in our own back yard, family and friend visitors, trips to zoos, orchards, arboretums, parks, bike trails, bakeries, ice cream shops, and many other fun, enjoying-the-simple-things moments.  We've seen a lot, accomplished a lot, and enjoyed ourselves a great deal!

As we head into our 11th year of teaching, 1st grade, and 3-year-old preschool (and of course Brian's 5th year in his current company), we look forward to the year ahead: the fun and learning it will bring and the excitement of another summer on the horizon.  We have a lot of great experiences to pack in between now and then, but this summer was so great, we can't hardly help but look forward to another.  While we will not wish away the coming days of firsts, upcoming holidays, and family adventures, we do anticipate great things for our next summer...plans are already being made.  

I'm finding that this blog was neglected this summer, but I am going to attribute that to the great fun we had this summer--too much fun, no time to type.  Tonight as we have movie night, just the girls, with a sleepover in Mom's room, I hope I'm able to do a better job of updating our fun adventures throughout the school year.  I'm certain there will be lots of fun to share!

With that, I'm going back to snuggle with my sleepover girls and enjoy the last moments of our summer vacation.