Summer

Maggie and Sam are enjoying their summer, their first official warm summer of their lifetime. They are loving the yard, room to run, the horse pasture down the street and Daisy the neighborhood mascot which happens to be a full-grown grumpy sheep and of course the coolness of the pools, you've got to stay cool in 98 + degree weather. They are also enjoying having family so close, cousins and aunts and uncles and grandparents...they haven't looked back once, other then when Sam said, "I miss our old house" and I asked "What do you miss about it?" and he replied, "the carpet was so soft there, the carpet here is crusty," laughing followed...we obviously didn't take into account Sam's desire for soft carpet.

I am also enjoying the warm summer days and yet we hibernate inside until it cools enough to go outside and oh how I love those cool summer nights, my favorite time of day. We've enjoyed late evening walks and bike rides to the neighborhood park and the kids adore watering Grandpa's garden. Two nights ago I heard screaming, I went up to the garden boxes and something magical had happened, the kids had discovered and picked our first zucchini of the season. My sister Heather surprised me with planted garden boxes when we arrived in late June, an early birthday present. So we've had our first zucchini and I am waiting for the tomatoes, oh I can't wait for those home-grown, toasted, tomato sandwiches.

This transition has been a bittersweet one for me. Brian is still working in California for another couple of weeks. The days are long without him, the nights are longer. Not having him here during the week, makes this feel like a vacation for us, a visit and in a portion of my mind I still feel like we'll just pack our bags in a few days and head back to California. I look forward to those days when I'll hear the sound of the garage opening as I scramble to pull dinner together and I look forward to the nights around the dinner table when we'll laugh and talk about our day, I look forward to those cool summer nights talking out on the porch while the kids sleep soundly in their beds and I'll enjoy sharing Brian's side of the bed with him, instead of just dreaming he is there.