Did we really have a summer? Really?

These are not exactly stellar photos. However, you can probably guess that my children were not in the mood to stand still for a photo. "I'M GOING TO BE LATE!!!", they shout.
We try to take the first day seriously, we try to leave lots of extra time, we try to make it special, but I have not gotten the hang of it. I guess I have five more tries with Hayden. YIKES. That's not long at all. Sigh. Is it better to commemorate and think too much in the process, or to slide through life and not have sad thoughts? I haven't decided. I guess I have done some of both.
Anyway, the kids are growing. Maybe on Tuesday morning, I'll pretend it's the first day and take better pics..........

Ode to our late van.

This is the side that got smashed while we were spinning around. The door no longer closes.


This is the side the at-fault driver hit. (I'm so p.c.) That is the back bumper on top of the van, and there is no glass in the sliding door window. The pictures don't do it justice. They don't show the smell of gas (still!) nor all the wasps that moved in while it sat here. THAT was fun.


so now to the ode. Oh van, we loved your eight seats, your power sliding door, your cupholders, and your huge gas tank. We loved your great gas mileage (hey, everything beats the Explorer), your trip odometer, your mileage and compass and temperature display. We loved your clean carpet and brakes. Ah, we will miss you.

A select few photos from WA

So I decided to come back to the funeral pictures later. I think we took about 500 pictures on our trip to Washington to see my family. I'm not exaggerating. It took a while to upload from our camera. So these are just a few of the delights. In a few days I'll post the before and after pics of our late, departed van.