Farewell, Sweet Summer

Oh, hello September and everything Pumpkin Spice...well not everything as we are actually still harvesting handfuls of strawberries from our "magical" strawberry patch in the backyard. 

But hopefully not much longer and fall weather will arrive. Until then, we are making the most of these last hot summer days. And hot it is, with a daily average temperature of mid 90sF/ 34+C. So naturally, we pulled out, for the first time this summer, our little pool and jumped right in. It was so refreshing and I was so sweaty after some yard work that I had to join the kids. 

Only 2 hours later, there came a huge rainstorm that lasted at least an hour. But after that, the kids were back in the pool. 

Reading in her "club house":

For the past two Thursdays, we met our friends at the Y Pool after school. 

While Amelia caught a ride on Eli's back, Elliot practiced swimming on his own. He really surprised us how well he did.

On Friday it was Luau Day at Elliot's preschool and my little guy dressed to impress: 

This week, I also volunteered twice at Amelia's school as her teacher asked for an extra set of hands when they decorated pig cookies. The children completed the book Charlotte's Web  and as a treat, the teacher came up with this sweet idea. 

Labor day weekend was spent with chores around the house but also by taking time to be with my family. Even though it was super humid and hot on Saturday morning and there were lots of cars and people attending a Car Show, Amelia wanted to go to the park to feed the squirrels. So, off the girls went:

The boys were busy taking apart a remote control car in order to build a BattleBot. This is Elliot's favorite show and my little engineer will soon figure out how to build his own robot, I'm sure. 

They fight, they compete but most often they play well with each other: 

Still going strong on our daily reading lessons. Elliot is doing great and after 3 weeks, can read already a couple of sentences by himself. 

Today is a holiday and we spent it wisely: a last hooray at the YMCA outdoor pool before it closes down for the season. 

My two water babies are so close to passing their swim tests. We will keep up with the swim practice in the fall and hopefully by next summer, they can join the swim team. 

 

 

And so we say farewell, to this sweet summer of 2018. It was a really great one and felt much shorter than usual. While there are a few more hot days in the forecast, we are now getting ready for all things fall. In less than two weeks, I will be traveling to Europe for another business trip and can't wait to see my family. Here is a little throwback from the early 90s: 

My friend and 2nd cousin, Tanja, is on the right and I'm pictured on the left during a sightseeing tour in Berlin. We always wrote letters to each other and while that has stopped we are still in touch via Whatsapp. When growing up we lived in different cities and only saw each other once a year. Now, Tanja lives in Mallorca and I'm in the USA but I love that this doesn't hinder us from keeping in touch.  Also, it is fun to receive pictures when there are coincidental meetings in Germany:

My mom, Juergen and Tanja in August 2018

Fall we are coming for you!!!