Friday, August 16, 2013

Long time no see

It has been such a long and amazing summer. First the weather. Sunny, warm and very abnormal for days and days of sunshine here in Alaska. Our summer was all about sun and family.

Grandma and Grandpa came up to visit from Nebraska and we zoomed all around from Denali to Kenai. Ocoee really got some great quality time in with them and it was so wonderful!





Then we were able to visit our cousin Cassie in Arizona and my Uncle Ricky, Aunt Hannah and cousins Jonathan and Sophia. Ocoee learned about fist pumping, swam outside, learned to love Ikea and visited the awesome Phoenix Children's museum.

In between we had some adventures in Ocoee's new bike trailer, camping with Lia and Nancy, and lots of stroller walks along the coastal trail.

This was the best summer ever and Ocoee is at such an amazing age. Her favorite book is Kayak girl and her favorite food this week is pickles. She is very social and holds her own with all my friends mostly older children. Her curls are as wild as her namesake the Ocoee river. She is sensitive and tender. Every night she asks me to sing her hush baby and is at the stage (22 months) where she announces she is peeing in her diaper but doesn't make it to her potty yet.

I could easily freeze time and make her stay this age forever.

Summer, like life itself is so sweet because it must come to an end. My summer ended Monday when I went back to school for my 8th year teaching. Students begin Wednesday and I am almost ready for them. The hardest part is letting go of the unlimited family time but I truly love what I do and I am lucky enough to work with amazing people who are all trying to make a difference in the lives of young people.

So long sweet summer!

Cheers
Janelle