Summer’s over, or so they say.

My children aren’t yet in school, and I relish the fact that the summer season in our home comes to an end when we decide. We had a very active summer, and though I’ll miss a few things about it, I’m always ready for the next season.

We had a swimming-play dating-librarying-park visiting-slip-n’-slide sliding-gardening-lake visiting-boating-road-traveling-and-more-road-traveling-family-visiting-summer, and even though it’s winding down…

…the garden is still producing (don’t ask me how to do it),

the sun is still shining (and not quite so intense),

and we have still have an invitation for another boat ride (which we we’ve accepted).

What I’ll miss about summer:

1. Swimming, more swimming, watching my oldest child in swimming lessons, and dropping off my youngest child with a babysitter so I could watch his older brother in swimming lessons.

2. Plucking fresh things from the garden: tomatoes, peppers, herbs, green beans, my toddler.

3. Letting go of some of our usual structure and routine (except for bedtime, of course – the kids’ bedtime, that is).

4. Wearing flip-flops and summer dresses (Another baby is on the way. Can I wear these in winter?)

What I won’t miss:

1. The one sunburn my kids always get (Yes, they were slathered in sunblock. With a number like 75 spf, you’d think they’d get whiter, not red).

2. The very high heat index and lack of rain.

3. The brown yard. (Yeah, we don’t water).

Summer should come to a close AFTER Labor Day weekend. That’s when I’ll we’ll decide that fall has started, command pray for great weather, and start on What I Am Looking Forward To Now That Fall Is Here.

Which really, out here in the woods, is just about everything.