Zoom! Went the Summer

This morning there was giddiness in the air as we prepared for the first day of school.

Crisp outfits.  Squeaky shoes.  Sharpened pencils.  New lunchbags.

We styled hair, clicked-off snapshots and smiled stunningly.  Half skipping, half walking we headed up the hill to school and lined up at the door - smiling and squirming in anticipation.

We said hello to classmates, teachers and a brand-new year.

But yesterday we said goodbye to summer.  As we sat around the lunch table, sipping frozen strawberry smoothies and nibbling on steamy hot popcorn, we shared our favorite snapshots of summer:

Our trip to Steamboat Springs and our trips up and down the gondola,
Gymnastics practices and Norah's success in learning her round-off, back hand-spring,
Swim lessons and watching our kids transform into little fishies,
Our trip to Denver and our time at the County Fair, the Demolition Derby, the Petty Zoo and the Amazin' Maze,
Vacation Bible School and our "tour" around the globe to discover again our Awesome God and His Amazing Power,
Three different visits with Auntie Steph and discovering we'd soon have an Uncle Ned,
Attending the Grand Junction Rockies home opener and watching them win,
Watching the Olympics on TV and experiencing the Olympics in our home,
Camping in Auntie Allie's backyard and enjoying lazy afternoons while sipping iced tea,
Laughing our way through Wednesday Game Days and learning how hard it is to jog in soggy pants,
Swimming a lot and watching Aaron and Ashley fall in love with and fall from the high dive,
A fantastic family visit with my grand parents and my aunt and uncle and a snapshot to capture the smiles of four generations,
Watching The Princess Bride under the stars and the echo of voices reciting our favorite lines,
Lots of cousin-time together and the great culmination with Parkapalooza ... three parks in three hours,
Celebrating the 4th of July in Ouray and discovering a new tradition in the making,
Norah's first time in a parade and her fifteen minutes of tambourine fame,
Hours playing Ticket to Ride and exploring all of Europe and Asia while never leaving the dining room table,
Praying for those affected by the Colorado forest fires and seeing first-hand the blackened damage along I-70,
Attending the first and last JUCO game of the series and watching the same two teams go head-to-head,
Playing with playdoh and watching Lydia experience pure joy with every squish and squash,
Destroying two slip-n-slides and discovering that a plastic tarp would probably work just as well,
Tending our garden and enjoying the first fruits of cherry tomatoes, peppers, zucchini and cucumbers.
Anticipating fall and the thrill of carving two of our very own pumpkins,
Learning seventeen of the fifty state capitals and deciding this is a project worth carrying into the fall,
Bouncing through the month of June on our neighbor's trampoline and squealing happily while mom showered everyone with the hose,
Devouring bowl after bowl of cabbage salads during what Brett has named "The Summer of Slaw"
Celebrating the beginning of school with our annual Ice Cream Party in the front yard and spending time with neighbors and friends,
Loving our family time together and eagerly awaiting some breathing time apart from one another!

With the changing of the season, it's fun to look back and reminisce and even more fun to dream about the school year to come!