The End of Summer

The end of summer is here. Cool lake breezes and cool nights are making for good sleeping weather. We've harvested more tomatoes than we know what to do with. And things are starting to ramp up for the beginning of school. 


Thankfully we've had a couple of weeks of good old fashioned summer laziness. After Joe finished his first round of interviews our schedules suddenly opened up. I have still been working three days a week at the bakery, and Joe has been using that time to work on his journal assignments. But other than that it's been like one big long weekend. We've done a lot of sleeping in, cooking together, and doing whatever we feel like. We've gone on lots of walks, played in lots of parks, and worked in the garden. We've also watched some movies, gone shopping, and cooked some more. We haven't really been visiting other people a whole lot. It's been really nice to just hang out together as a family.  


Here are some pictures of our recent adventures: 


Making marinara sauce from our garden harvest. We froze two bags worth!

At the Fox Valley Folk Festival sitting in her big girl chair. 

In the Children's Garden at Morton Arboretum. I think Lily would like to live in this little house. 

Walking down the path with dad at the Arb. NBD.

Sunday afternoon nap after church and lunch at New Star. 

Looking at these pictures, Lily looks like such a big girl now! She insists on walking everywhere and prefers to hold Joe's hand while doing so. She's also a great eater. We do have days where she only wants crackers and cheese, but other days she chows down on moussaka, pasta carbonara, pork chop suey and baklava. And we've had marginal success with a variety of sippy cups, but she can drink like a champ out of a solo coffee cup lid. So no, our baby is not gulping down a cup of coffee, it's just the only thing she'll drink milk out of other than a bottle. And I never thought I'd be a sucker for this, but the pitter-patter of little feet followed by an unexpected knee-height hug and "wow!" is the cutest thing ever. 

This week things start to get busy again. Joe has a few call-back interviews and I have a couple of cakes to bake. Friends and family are coming to town and classes will be starting soon. I'm looking forward to a little bit of hustle and bustle but am extremely grateful for the last couple of weeks.