The End

It is officially the end of summer. 

Okay. Not officially. Unofficially. 

Though summer does have a few short weeks left until the fall season OFFICIALLY begins school starts tomorrow. So, for us, it is the end of summer.

Thankfully, we were able to round out the summer with a trip to the county fair, immediately followed by a trip up north to the cabin for the extended weekend. 

It makes me so happy to see that the kids still get excited to climb on to the tractors. That is usually the first place they want to go. I guess some things never change. And to this mama that feels like her kids are growing at warp speed that's a good thing.

We took it easy on the rides this year since we had just visited an amusement park twice in one week and had our fill of fun rides. Still, we couldn't pass them all up. Joey really wanted to go on The Zipper and even though I had been fighting off a stomach bug the last few days I went with him. It probably wasn't the best decision on either of our parts. We were a little worse for the wear after that. However, Joey quickly felt better when he ran into his crush and she accompanied him (and his siblings) into the fun house. He was all smiles after that. 

We gorged ourselves on fair food and made sure we saw each and every cute and fuzzy little (and big) animal. It was a great time at the fair.

Right after the fair we drove up to the cabin. Todd had to drive separately to fit in all the equipment he needed for some repairs he had to do and all the kids drove with me. The drive took longer than normal since there was the world's worst rainstorm. I can't ever recall driving in such crazy rain. And at night! It was pretty crazy. We were very thankful when we finally arrived at the cabin.

True to form this summer, the weather was cold and rainy for the whole weekend. The kids didn't let it bother them. They played in the woods, made a fort, cast off the pier, took the paddle boat out, and sat around a campfire.

Sunday morning we went to church at a small chapel in a town near our cabin. The priest was giving the final blessing before mass let out and said a special prayer for students and teachers. After the prayer he turned to my kids and said, "Are you excited to go back to school?" All four kids shook their heads while Tommy shouted an emphatic, "No!"  That gave the congregation a good laugh. And it made me smile too. I guess the summer couldn't have been too bad if they all don't want it to end.

It was a long drive home from the cabin today. Not only because of the holiday traffic, which was insane, but because of the impending start of school. We just don't want summer to end.

All afternoon I have been a massive whirlwind of running around filling out paperwork, doing laundry, making treats, setting out clothes, ordering showers, writing surprise notes for lunches, and getting supplies ready. Finally, the evening is winding down. The kids are in bed. All is quiet. And I am melancholy.

It may be the end.

But tomorrow is just the beginning.