The End of Summer

I can not believe this summer is already coming to an end. I think it was the best summer ever. We had a lot of fun going to Disneyland, visiting with Karla, camping on Orcas, attending various camps, and off course celebrating Marlene's birthday with a Pirate Party. So now the last few weeks are trickling away. Even the weather seems to already have given up. The nights are definitely getting colder and even some of the days are truly Seattle style. I was already wearing my fleece (in August). And we finally had a day of rain (can you say free water?). I am dreading this next water bill. I always forget, that it does not rain here in summer. I think the last day of real rain was in May and then absolutely nothing until the end of August. I try to fill the days with small activities with the girls before school starts and then the routine completely changes. One exciting outing was, going to the Evergreen State Fair (that is Washington) in Monroe. Previous years we had always gone to the Puyallap Fair which is technically just a "western Washington" Fair, but it is much bigger. Since the Puyallap Fair does not start until school is on, we decided to go to the Evergreen Fair, which is smaller, but less expensive; and it still has all the animals and rides for the children. We went with my friend Julie and her two girls Olive and Vivienne. All four loved looking at the livestock. They were allowed to pet cows and calves. Amelia's favorite were the barnyard birds. I was a little nervous because she stuck her fingers in all the cages. Some of us might have memories of geese, turkeys, or ducks pecking at little fingers. Well, she was lucky and the life lesson might wait another year. Last Sunday we drove up into the Cascade mountains to visit Jason's friend Mike at their cabin. It was nice spending the afternoon in the middle of the forest, just hanging out. The way back took us across Blewitt Pass to Ellensburg and then via I90 back home. For Labor Day weekend we have few plans. On Saturday we went to Zoe's 1st birthday party. The kids had fun playing at a playground in Wallingford and having a BBQ. It was a hot day and the cake started to melt away. Sunday I worked, and Monday it was time a gain to can more pears. If anyone needs pears, you know where to get them.