Summer: Week 6 (I might have lost track!)

To say I'm enjoying my summer vacation would be an understatement. This has been one of my best summers ever, and I've had a lot of good summers.

Fathers' Day in Joshua Tree

I just finished my 13th year of teaching, and with teaching, comes a 10 week unpaid vacation. I have a summer saver account, so I cut my 10 month salary 12 ways, that way, I don't have to work during the summers. I've worked only about three summers in the last 13. I still stay busy, but I have very few time constraints during the summer.

Some summers I've traveled quite a bit, which made them special. But this one? I've stayed home. So what puts this summer in the top 5? Family.

A day hike to... a lovely rock pile!

The first two weeks of summer were spent winding down from school, plus giving the house and yards some attention. I like do to what I call "self-inflicted honey-do's."  I also bought a Kindle and I've been doing a lot of reading in the yard. Sweet. (And, I helped my oldest daughter find a home to rent nearby.)

But on July 4th, all that rest and relaxation gave way to some serious summer fun: my daughter and her family arrived to begin a three week stay while they awaited their furniture's arrival from Maryland. Some might flinch at the thought of playing host to a family of six including twin toddlers, but we did the same thing last summer and loved it.

The three weeks flew by. The transition from empty nest to very full nest was helped by lawn chairs. We spent a lot of time in the yard, which supplemented the limited living space I call home.

Picnic among the boulders?

The pace of a young family is very different from that of a middle-aged couple, but Leslie and I embraced the changes joyfully. We are so happy that this summer "trip" won't end with a departure, but a relocation.

Earlier this week, the moving van arrived, and while we babysat, a new home was inaugurated! My sister and her family helped unload boxes. The move-in was accomplished in record time with few if any bumps. Wow.

So my summer seems to be forming into a three phase adventure: prepare for the Haans, host the Haans, and help the Haans adjust to their new home in lovely Fullerton, California.

Self-portrait, with feet.

Me? I got my computer room back: it was a boys' bedroom for most of the summer. So, now I even have time and access to write a blog entry or two.

That's my summer so far. And. I'm. loving. it!