Bittersweet

Home again! And this time, as far as I can tell, for a good long while, too.

Our trip to visit my sister was, as always, a lot of fun. I wish we could do it more often, and for a longer period. This time we were just there for three days.

Still, we managed to squeeze a large amount of juice from even that short time (I KNOW that metaphor doesn't work at all. Humor me.). There was an awesome water slide in the backyard:



Sprinklers:



Homemade ice cream, courtesy of the coolest ice cream maker I've ever seen (a ball that you roll around and shake to make the ice cream):



And a lovely nature walk (at my request as an antidote to all the artificial sweetener of Disney World), with vistas like this:



All that, plus a game of croquet, and smores (the first for my kids), and so much cousin- and aunt-bonding that my heart nearly burst.

I can't believe school starts next week. Expect several at least one mournful and contemplative post about the end of summer and the first days of kindergarten and preschool (which I hope I can find the time to write, given the fact that my in-laws are coming tomorrow for a long-ish visit!).