Summer Fun

Well, so much for my resolution to post more often. I guess the good news is that it’s June (okay, the very end of June but June nonetheless) and not December so at least I just have a few months worth of blog-catch-uppery. So here’s a recap: We had a great two weeks in Austin in February. Of course the time flew by and we didn’t do as much as we thought we would.--- but isn’t that what visiting home is about? In March Mike and Mike came to visit. We got to enjoy them for a bit before they headed off to the beach. Ryan learned to whistle in March and we had our family photos taken at the end of the month. April 1st was the Caminata (Walkathon) for Ryan’s school. It was a killer (lots of uphill action) 13 kilometer walk and our superstar tough girl, Ryan, walked the whole way! She was the youngest kid to do it. How cool is that? At the beginning of April Jackson pulled himself up to stand for the first time. Then he decided one milestone wasn’t enough for the month so he decided to eat his first (certainly not his last) piece of dog food as well as start doing the army crawl. May was Ryan’s last full month of school so she stayed busy with activities and play dates. Nir and Galit were in Israel for a month so Cane and I stayed busy splitting the hours at Luna Azul. Jackson started clapping and saying “yay” (definitely my kid) and he says “bowwow” to the dogs. Now we’re in June. The second was Ryan’s last day of school. Ran, Jackson, Bodi and I went to her end-of-year program. Jackson has started taking steps around the coffee table. Ran and Shannon went on a two-day retreat to discuss the PSE. Ryan has been busy playing with her friends and having a great start to her summer break. It will be interesting to see how we manage to keep her entertained for 2 ½ months.

Summers are tough times here because that’s when families tend to leave the area. We have been so lucky to have terrific neighbors for the last semester but they are getting ready to head back to Florida. Jim and Donna have two kids, Catie (6) and Kevin (8). Ryan and Catie were fast friends. They are easily able to fill their time together with lots of fun and very little conflict. You know that they are good friends when they even get into trouble together. One day while Donna and I were having coffee at her house, the girls went outside to play. They came back in with handfuls of Ryan’s toys and were proud to announce that they had gone next door to our house via the shortcut (which means they didn’t go into the street). Naturally they got into trouble for leaving the property without an adult but at the same time it’s such a treat to have a neighbor you like and a shortcut through the woods to get there!

I have a feeling the summer is going to fly by—much like the first half of the year already has. This weekend we’re going to David and Karen’s wedding in Sugar Beach. We’re looking forward to celebrating with them as well as enjoying a family getaway. And believe it or not Jackson will turn ONE next week! We plan to have a party for him next weekend so with work and life, parties and play dates, I’m sure July will be over in a blink. Hopefully we’ll have some visitors this summer to keep us even busier (hint hint).

Until my next post...

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