In Pursuit of a Hike

Goodbye lazy days. We (and I, especially) will miss you. The boys don't go back to school for a few weeks, but I'm back in the office already and slowly transitioning back to full time work. I'm not complaining, believe me. I don't take take my summers for granted for one second. I know how fortunate I am to spend 3 months out of the year with the boys. I also know how fortunate I am to have a job that I love in a district where my kids attend school. It's all about balance, amIright? Every summer has its own unique personality. Some years, summer is all about the big vacation. Other years, it's about day trips and bucket lists. This summer has been all about full time lazy days and days at the pool. We've spent more time at the pool that any other year, and have also made two trips to a water park. This summer has been about lounging in the sun, catching up on Netflix, and checking out giant stacks of books at the library (mostly cookbooks, some memoirs for...

Here is a summary of the conversations taking place in our house this summer. Boys: Can we watch t.v.? Me: Sure Boys: Can we play on the Xbox? Me: Sure Boys: Can we go on a bike ride? Me: Sure Boys: Can we go to the Nature Center? Me: Sure Boys: Can we play in the sprinkler? Me: Sure You get the point. We aren't checking off any to do lists this summer. In fact, there have been many days that I wake up and think, "Today is the day I will make a to do list," and then the boys ask to go to the park, and I say, "sure." Because that's the kind of summer we all need. Not one that is scheduled from dusk to dawn, and not one that has us all stressing about what we need to get done before tomorrow. It has been lovely I tell you. We've been on a few local hikes and have been to the creek a few times. We've been to Eagle Bluffs to see the landscape and we watched the sunset over the river. We've chased a few rainbows and we've played in the rain. We re...