How can today possibly be September 1st? That just can't be right. September means fall, which is good, but fall means winter's next, which is bad.
We had such a great summer! Life is good on the outside (of work jail) and Marin and Norah and I have been turning this town upside down. We've loved taking multiple walks a day, going to the park, meeting friends for play dates, going to the pool, playing in the yard, and sometimes eating ice cream right in the middle of the day! We're eating outside almost exclusively, which means clean up means literally just hosing everything down.
Life gets even better when Daddy gets home, and we love taking walks to pick him up at the train. I keeping saying that I'm going to get this on video some day. Marin spots Jason from a mile away just about, and starts waving her arm from the shoulder joint likes she's trying to land a plane. Then she screams "Dadadadadadadadada!!!!!!" and jumps up an down in her stroller. Norah stands alert and on point with her little tail wagging. Surrounding train passengers always comment, many asking who is most excited to daddy- the baby or the dog. (The real answer, btw, is Mommy.)
As you know, we jam pack our weekends full of fun, and that isn't slated
to seize just because the days are getting shorter. We absolutely L-O-V-E living in Geneva. We feel so fortunate to live in the house where we do in the neighborhood with do, and to have made the great friends that we have. All of our friends have children around Marin's age, and we can't
wait to see them all grow together even more. It's so nice to have my parents as close as they are. Marin is cookoo about her Grandpa, who is a great playmate. We've loved taking in all of Geneva's festivals; most recently we packed Marin's wagon and headed for the Geneva Concours d'elegance, which is a car show with crazy fancy and in some cases, crazy old cars- one more beautifully maintained than the next. Marin loved watching the cars and telling us that cars go "vroom vroooooom!"
We had some beautiful family pictures taken this summer, by Erica. She took them the day of my parents 40th Anniversary party, and since Jake and Katy and Jason and I had a book made for them, we kept the pictures a secret until our family trip to Hilton Head, when we were all together again, and presented them with the book. We all love the pictures, and feel so lucky to have had Erica take them!
We've officially packed away our swimsuits and sunscreen for the summer. You know I hate to
let go, so I seriously almost put Marin in one just for kicks one day. Still, we're excited to pick out pumpkins and snuggle up in the evenings. Our U of I season football tickets came in the mail the other day, and I anxiously marked the calendar for each game. All the children are back in school, the true mark that summer is coming to a close. Marin loved going to Grandma's classroom to help her get it ready for her fifth graders. She really took a liking to this fraction poster.
Life is moving quickly. I am realizing more and more these days how grown up it seems Marin is becoming. Some days I find myself realizing that these days (good or bad) are fleeting. Marin will only be a year and a half once ( and most days I let out a great big hallelujia to that). I am trying really hard to soak up every second. This is the good life. Baby snuggled in my lap asking to read one more book, is still a baby snuggled in my lap. I have never once denied her another book. Because I know there will be a day when she will prefer to read her generations Judy Blume, alone before bedtime.
I hope you had a great summer making memories that you and your family will look back on together for many, many years. Happy September!
Geneva hosts a Fall Festival every September 
called Festival of the Vine. It highlights local restaurant food specialties as well as wine tastings for three straight days. There are also fall floral displays, live bands day and night and an area for kids to make fall crafts, jump in bouncy houses and ride on small toy tractors. It's a lot of fun and it's all just a short block from our house.
Marin, Norah and I walked through everything on Friday afternoon and 
Jason and I send Marin to Grandma and Grandpa's Friday night so we could enjoy an adult evening with Erica and Craig and Ron and Laura. We met some neighbors there as well, and I sufficiently stuffed my face with all of my local favorites. We went twice again on Sunday afternoon to make sure we hadn't missed anything.
