slipping thru my fingers

After Chris and I got back from Alaska and before he tore my kids away from me again to go backpacking, we really only had about a day together.
So Chris had the idea to take out the canoe and have a picnic and some family time.
I found some pictures from that fun evening.
It was so beautiful watching the sun start to set over the water.

I love spending time with these people.

I can't even pretend that I'm excited for school to start.
I'm so sad to see summertime coming to an end.

We got two children all registered for middle school this week.
They are ok with it.
In fact, they are pretty excited now.

I am not completely ok with it.

And Austin thinks he gets to go to first grade.
And leave me ALL DAY.

I took him school shopping while the others were out of town.
And it just hit me like a ton of bricks.
Homeboy needs a lunch box!
What??
(all day)

It's crazy talk I tell you.
Crazy.

But we have one more week to enjoy the summer and we plan to make the most of it.

I love them and would do anything for this sweet family of mine.

postscript: I was remembering the school shopping I mentioned with Austin. In the past I have always just bought clothes in his size and he wore them. This was probably the first time he really tried on the clothes. And he was having fun. Each time he would put on a new pair of jeans, I would ask, "Do you like them?" So he informed me that the way I would know whether he liked something is if he was dancing. He would be dancing if he liked it. Oh my goodness. I had to keep asking him to hold still so I could have a glance to see if they actually fit or not. Kid was shaking it all over that fitting room.