Goodbye Summer...

The girls are both back in school.  Audrey has had her first two days of kindergarten, and Violet is enjoying her new preschool.  Both of them will experience many new challenges and adventures, and we are all excited to continue to grow as a family even while we are apart during the day.

It is difficult to adjust in some ways to getting back to work.  While I am excited about another year teaching and working with students, it is tough to not be with my daughters every day.  I will very much enjoy the quiet and faster pace of school again, but it will be rough not having afternoon naps and sharing in laughter in the little things each day.

The last few days of this summer have been very sweet, with visits to family, riding bikes, and even a baseball game at Wrigley Field for me.  This summer has been one of simple pleasures and slowing things down.  No major traveling, but a few trips to Indiana, Michigan, and neighboring suburbs have kept us looking forward to the "next adventure".  Our mantra all summer has been "Relentless, Forward Motion.  ONWARD!"  And so it shall be as we continue to more forward, now on our own paths.

-a

Audrey and Violet at the new children's nature park at Indian Boundary Park in Chicago.

Indian Boundary Park:  Uncle Fred and Uncle Stuart with the girls.

Audrey crossing the bridge at Indian Boundary Park

Violet in a play house, originally designed for swans! 

The Orelove Express:  Violet, Audrey, and Uncle Stuart.

Uncle Fred and the girls enjoying some time at the park.

Cubs game early evening.

The night engulfs us, and the lights are on.  Cubs win!

Audrey getting on the bus for her first day of school.  Goodbye summer, hello academia!  

Transitions

The last couple weeks have been a wonderful wrap-up to this summer, and now we are all in a time of transition.  Soon we will find ourselves with new schedules, new daily routines, new challenges, new victories, etc.  There has been a little stress and anxiety over all of this change, and I recognize that making a transition into new things is very critical.

My sister, Eden, has been visiting this past week, and it has been very nice to have her.  Her visit sort of marked the "end" of summer for me, and also signaled my transition back to work and on with a new routine with work, school, and the children.  

Audrey is a bit nervous about her first year in her new school and the overall experience of kindergarten.  We talk a lot about learning about new people and how to move in a new building.  We have visited her school and will get to meet her teacher in a couple days, too.  All of these little things will help her transition into her new experiences.

Transitions and change are constantly eroding our old layers of living, only to reveal the new layers of life soon to be experienced.  The thing about transitions and change that scare some people is not the newness of things, but having to release the familiar and let go of old habits.  I am excited about another school year, and looking forward to enjoying new students and seeing my school thrive another year.  I feel angst about leaving the comfortable days of summer with my daughters.  I am more curious about the things that will happen when change occurs than anything.  It is the comfort in knowing what I already have that makes it difficult to fully embrace a new layer of life.

As we move forward, it is a certainty that things will continue to change, and life will evolve whether I am content or not.  As we press on in this short time we are given, I do my best to embrace the change while appreciating the present moment for as long as it lasts.  I know that transitioning to a new set of rules and expectations is a challenging prospect, but with it comes excitement and new experiences that would not be present in the past.  So we are looking forward to all of this change with a feeling of gratitude and anticipation, and at the same time acknowledging it is not an easy thing to dig through to a new layer in life.

-a 

Aunt Eden helps Audrey organize her library.

The girls show Aunt Eden around Brookfield Zoo!

We open the latest gold panning trophy from Uncle Michael!

Brother/Sister selfie.

Audrey captures a toad while visiting South Bend.

Audrey take another riding lesson , this time on Penny the horse.

Audrey pets Bold, the goat, after her lesson.

Walking Penny to the arena.

Audrey enjoys the shark slip-'n-slide with Uncle Mark.

Audrey and Uncle Fred play on a crazy contraption on a playground in Deerfield, IL.  Uncle Fred is visiting from Richmond, VA!  

Violet and Uncle Stuart discuss life on the playground.

Aunt Eden, Violet, and Audrey.  

Taking a rest before heading home for nap time.  It was a good day.  Tomorrow is another adventure.

A Day Downtown

A quiet last chunk of time.  Tomorrow I start in earnest, returning to school to set-up my classroom, get some curriculum mapping done, and begin sculpting the school year on paper.  This weekend was a brief escape from responsibility, as our awesome cousin, Gail, visited from Indianapolis.  Yesterday we traveled downtown and explored Field Museum, Grant Park, and Millennium Park.  Gail, Audrey, and Kim also had about an hour to rush through the Chicago Art Institute while Violet and I played in the water at Millennium Park and watched people on their way to the giant music fest that is Lollapalooza.

This Sunday morning finds us walking the dog around the block, and then retreating back to the cooler air-conditioned sanctuary that is our house.  Ideas of splash pads and a quick trip to the library are tempting, and may or may not play out depending on the attitudes of little girls who had an exhausting, full day yesterday.  Some cleaning, leftover pizza, and unfinished chapters in my book await me whenever time permits.  It is nice to have these sorts of simple lists, at least for a little while longer before new responsibilities and routines emerge.  

While this was not downtown, this is one of my favorite pictures of the summer:  Audrey holding a turtle we discovered on a walk near the Renwick Bird Preservation this past week.  She was so excited and interested!

Here is Audrey in Michigan, taking a riding lesson on a horse named S'more.  Thank you grandma for the lessons!

Violet riding a rocking horse while Audrey is taking her horse riding lesson.  

At the Field Museum this weekend! 

Cousin Gail visited for the weekend!  The girls absolutely adore her!  

Bushman is one of the exhibits we always see, as it is my father's favorite.  The history of this amazing gorilla is quite astounding, and it gives me satisfaction to share this with my own children.

Violet learning about how powerful the heart of a giraffe must be to pump blood to its brain!  What a neat experience the entire "Biomechanics" exhibit was at the Field Museum. 

Dino head!

One of Audrey's favorite animals, the cheetah.  

Learning about the mechanics of their own bodies!  

Look what Violet dug up!

Audrey and the giant ground sloth!  It is quite amazing what evolution has done throughout time!

Violet getting on the bus to Africa at the Field Museum!

Violet and the water tower faces at Millennium Park in Chicago!  What a treat on a hot day, to be able to play in cool water!  A very positive place with lots of kids! 

Daddy and Violet selfie via "The Bean" in Millennium Park.

The Bean

Family Portrait off of The Bean.