One Day Left.

It's 9:04 am on the very last day of summer and my children are still asleep. This does not bode well for their 8:00 am school start time tomorrow morning. They are officially registered in the nation's largest public school system and all I can really worry about at this point is where and when to park tomorrow morning. I'll let you know how that goes. It's been an unbelievable summer, more adventure than anything else. I had no idea what was to come after the last day of school in Albany, and I feel as though I am standing on a similar ledge right about now. I'm hoping we can make it to October without incident.

We've had a whirlwind of a week (or two maybe? no, three I think.) Starting with a visit from Nell. She had a few work things to do here, also a visit to USC. We are hoping they love her and accept her into their PHD writing program so we can hang out all the time again. After she left, the kids had a visit from an old neighbor from Albany, then we got word that Lakota and family were in town. Corey and Kerriann introduced us to an amazing brunch at their old stomping ground, Cha Cha Cha. It was SO tasty. We can't wait to try the Tapas and Sangria there! We got to hang out and the kids got to play. I think it really put Eden and Eamon at ease to see so many old friends before they started a new and dauntingly large school.

Yesterday was Family Adventure Day with Annika and Will. They took us to The Devil's Punchbowl and the town of Little Rock. We ate lunch at an amazing Mexican diner per Annika and Will's recommendation. Eden wasn't feeling brave enough to try anything but the chicken strips, but after she saw all of our amazing plates, she sampled just about every one. By the time we arrived at the Devil's Punchbowl it was over 100 degrees Fahrenheit. The hiking trail that went to the bottom of the bowl and back was about 1 mile. Easy, we thought. No problem, we thought, as long as we had enough water. I had forgotten up to this point that the children's walk to school was about 1/4 of a mile. I would NEVER walk them to school if the temperature was more than 90 degrees. What were we thinking? Suffice it to say at the beginning of the hike I was REALLY worried about running into a rattlesnake. By the end, I had mostly forgotten about them, thinking maybe, if we did run into one, we could squeeze some water out of it or something. Later we recouped at Charlie Brown's Market, Milkshakes for All! I'm excited for another Family Adventure Day.

Check out the latest pictures on my and Tim's Flickr.