The Epic Summer Vacation Recap

Summer vacation has, sadly, ended and Aiden is back at school. Aiden had three camps this summer: baseball, art and science camp. He loved all three and was disappointed that they all ended by the beginning of August.

August is supposed to be when you head out of town for a vacation but this year we didn't have anything planned so we spent the month at the parks, pool and playdates. We did lots of hiking, took the kids to the aerospace museum and spent a few Saturdays at the farmers market. It was a good, if low-key, summer but I still wasn't prepared to find out that Aiden's school started a week earlier than usual (before Labor Day, which is unheard of in these parts).

He had his first day on Tuesday, and I was all prepared for lots of foot dragging and grumbling, but he seemed really happy to be back. It probably helps that he hasn't had any homework yet. His entire first month is a little strange in that he doesn't have more than three or four days of school per week, due to various holidays. We used these short weeks to finally book the vacation we'd missed out on this summer (thanks to Sean's ever changing work schedule, which has finally settled down *crossing fingers and toes*). I AM SO EXCITED. We are going to the actual ocean, staying in an adorable three bedroom apartment I found for a ludicrously amazing price that happens to be just yards from the ocean and directly on top of a cupcake shop. Aka HEAVEN. Ahem, anyway, that should be fun and I will certainly take 4,000 or so pictures.

Before we can leave for our vacation we just have to get through one teensy tinsy little gauntlet: Rory's first day of preschool. Now, Rory didn't exactly love it when we visited, but he has matured a huge amount over the summer. He's gotten to the point where he will, on occasion, listen to reason and perhaps check his behavior a bit when we're out in public. It's amazing. He still doesn't really like crowds or noise or new people or change. He also has a deep seated desire to be a clown that has started to surface. All of these things are swirling around making me realize what a crap shoot his first weeks of school will be. I'm fully prepared for a scream-y battle, but hoping for a gentler transition, and trying to also prepare for the flip side where he decides he loves school and wants to amuse everyone by breaking every rule with a smile. Just a little nervous.

Here are a zillion pictures from our past few weeks of leisure: