Summer Summary

As the kids go back to school, it's time to reflect on our summer. They are getting older and I relish spending these vacations together. It won't be long before they're on their own.

China (6/15-6/30)
My sister-in-law and her husband and their two children (my kids' ages) live in China and we went to visit them. Had a great time. Saw lots of sights. Got lots of good deals on things.Here we are at the Great Wall. It was steamy hot and we hiked a long portion of it (spent 5 hours on it). I'm the one in the lavender tank top (yes, my kids are taller than I am -- it happens).

Upstate New York (7/1-7/8)
Husband's family reunion in Upstate New York (See previous posts). Celebrated one daughter's 15th birthday. The kids love seeing their cousins. Each year Grandma makes them pose for a "cousin line up." They pull the board off from the see-saw and stand on it in descending height order. My kids are the two second from the left.


Brooklyn (7/8-8/17)
Spent a month back home enjoying the fact that everyone else in NYC decides to summer some where else. My older daughter attended FIT's Summer Live Program here in NYC. This was her fourth year. We also had some house guests, one of whom was a summer intern for Annie Leibowitz. No, I never got to meet her. In fact, he barely got to meet her as her mother passed away this summer so she was away a lot. Nevertheless, it was fun to have some house guests and give young people a little help on their way out to their lives.

Upstate New York (8/17-8/26)
As an annual event, we camp in Old Forge with my brothers and my father. It has become quite a tradition and we all look forward to it.Here's my younger daughter atop a water tower at the peak of a small mountain in the Adirondacks.

After camping over a weekend, we went back to my husband's family's summer cottage. We spent a rainy week there without the rest of his family. My father lives in the area as well as two of my brothers and lots of cousins. We were able to celebrate his 80th birthday (see previous posts). One of my husband's roles while we're up there is to help maintain the cottage. It belongs to his widowed mother. An area in which he has developed expertise over the years is the septic system. This year it had to be dug up. Guess who got that job?

We celebrated our 21st anniversary on August 2nd. When I'm not mad at him, I still think he's the cutest, nicest, funniest man. I mean look at him standing there at the septic tank. What more could you ask for in a man?