Summer’s really over? Already? I think I’m in denial to be honest.
We’re about to jump into our new Fall schedule around here, and boy will things be crazy with two kiddos going to preschool. Lindsay will now be attending the Pre-K class Monday through Thursday, and Emery the 3’s class on Tuesdays and Thursdays. They’ve also been begging to do gymnastics again, and because of school, the only day we could do it was Friday, so we now have something every single weekday, pretty much right in the middle of each day. Yikes.
Since I haven’t posted in so long, a quick catch up for you…
I got back from England on the 6th of July, thoroughly exhausted but filled with memories that will last a lifetime. I know I’ve promised to tell you all about the trip, but I need to wait for life around here to settle, and for me to have the emotional energy to do it properly; to do it justice. Home life has been crazier than usual with the introduction of such close new friends into our lives, and things have been both wonderful and complicated for the past month. With the end of summer comes the realization that things have to go back to normal. Everyone slips back into their schedules, their routines, and we lose the ability to focus so strongly on our friendships, our relationships, which is both good and bad; a relief and painful all at the same time. Such is life. We have to hold onto those beautiful moments in time, and be fueled by the hope for more in our future. Like I said, things are complicated around here, but we’re working on it.
We celebrated Emery’s birthday on the weekend of the 9th of August; a small gathering of family and friends. You can check out the pics here, as well as checking Chloe’s site.
We’ve gone to a few outdoor concerts this summer, and I even made it out to watch a friend perform as Brutus in a Shakespeare in the parks series, which was awesome. We’ve packed picnic dinners and enjoyed the music and the arts together. The latest was last week, when the kiddos and I joined Dan and his friend Kerri and her baby Ela, who are visiting from Mexico, at a performance of well known orchestral pieces given by the Oregon Symphony. It was amazing, and we also got to see a quick performance by Portland Taiko, which if you haven’t ever checked out, you should. Very entertaining. It was a great evening, and wonderful to get to know someone like Kerri, and to get to play with a baby as adorable as Ela.
Choir starts up for me again on Tuesday, which of course I’m looking forward to. I love the singing, the music, the challenge, and the friendships. And I don’t have any solos this season, which is kind of a relief! 
I need to spend some of this weekend learning the music. I figure as section leader, I have some sort of responsibility to know it well enough to help anyone who is having problems with it! And the fact that I don’t actually know how to read music makes it imperative that I sit down and listen to recordings and midis and learn it all by ear to start with.
Ok, that’s it for now. The fam’s waiting to go to the library, so I’m off! Enjoy the pics.
Wow. That extreme close-up of Emery is simply gorgeous.