Oh tell me where you've been Billy Boy, Billy Boy.......

Waking this morning to autumnal temperatures, listening to the thrumming of the cicadas, and overseeing schoolwork, lets me know that we're coming to the end of a crazy full and busy summer. Most of it was a good busy...

Gardening changes every year - some years you win some, and every year you lose some. The rain drowned some things while others thrived but overall this year's production was much more than I had hoped for.

 

We did do a quick camping trip at Kindaid Lake State park which is about an hour from us. It was horribly hot and we all decided we'd rather be camping when it's snowing than when it's hot. Notice all the footwear on top of the fenceposts. This was on a road between our house and the camp site.

 The boys did some canoeing. I was the "drop off/pick up" person. 

 There was a lot of wildlife and the deer were plentiful.

To celebrate my in-laws anniversary we had an Indian staff member (here at GBSC)  cook a traditional Indian meal for us. It was so very good......Butter Chicken, Saag Paneer, and Basmati rice. I love Indian food......too much!

Though it was super busy, there were times of relaxation and reading on the front porch (and a nap or two).

 Gramme Brown found this shirt for Allan at WalMart this summer.

Allan helped me to process 40 pounds of chicken from Zaycon.

We made a trip to Loveland Castle.

Lots and lots of swimming in Gramme's pool and Pop-pop's hot tub.

The Lego Americana Road Show stopped in Cincinnati. I'm going to do a separate post for this one. But if it's anywhere near you - go! It's fantastic!  Yes, all of these historic landmark buildings are made of Legos.

Took advantage of quite a few free/almost free food offers.

Took our yearly trek to Hillcrest Orchard for peaches but the boys' favorite stop is always the chocolate factory.

 

We started school in July part time and full time in August. Here's Stephen with one of his illustrated math problems. He spends more time illustrating than doing math.....but as long as he gets all of his work done, I don't mind. 

Went to visit the LST 325 that was on Omaha Beach on D-Day. I'll probably do a separate post on this also.

Goodness.....just doing that short trip through the pictures made me tired! Philip worked for GBSC this summer doing the grunt-work that's necessary for starting the graduate school. That's exciting but also very labor intensive. The evaluation team from the Higher Learning Commission will be here in a little over a month so continued prayers for that project would be appreciated.

Now our focus is on school and the pace has slowed considerably. I really do look forward to slowing down. As much as one can when when the mother of three boys.