It’s Fall! Like full-swing Fall. But I’ve got a cache of August snaps I just finished going through, so here’s one last glimpse of summer…
I took a few extra days off after we returned from Neskowin to tackle some house projects and spend some extra time with Juliette. It was bliss – I crossed a handful of longstanding items off my to-do list and relished my afternoons with my best girl. We drank boba and watercolored and strolled Alki together. Turns out Seattle is an ideal place to take a summer vacation.
We took a Saturday spin on the West Seattle water taxi to grab a waterfront lunch with my dad. Public transportation at its best.
Shane and I took the kids to the Sammamish Animal Sanctuary in Renton to visit their goats and llamas and bunnies. This place was wonderful – they give a home to neglected or unwanted barnyard animals and we had the best time doling out lettuce leaves and carrot sticks.
We spent a weekend on Bainbridge Island for one of Juliette’s soccer tournaments, but the weather was decidedly un-summery. It rained and rained and rained and we shivered through her Friday afternoon game.
Thankfully, our AirBnB was warm and comfy and the perfect place to enjoy a post-game nap.
And the Harbour Public House! There is no cozier place to enjoy a cup of beer and a bowl of chowder on a drizzly evening.
It stopped raining just as we were leaving the restaurant and we all felt a little giddy at the break in the weather.
My word, though – Saturday morning was even wetter. The girls pushed through. Isaac and I hunkered down in the tent.
And then enjoyed coffee and macarons at Coquette Bake Shop.
The sun came out just as the girls finished warming up for their third and final game. They ended the tournament 0 for 3, but they kept their heads up and learned a bunch.
It felt nice to take it slow on Sunday morning. Couch snuggles and cars.
Isaac was smitten with this little recycling truck he’d found in the house’s toy bin and had a very hard time saying goodbye. Finally, though, he gave it one last kiss, murmured “I love you, truck”, and walked away. Parting is such sweet sorrow.
And Poulsbo donuts make things brighter.
We took a short walk along the Poulsbo waterfront and I made a mental note to do some more exploring around here, when we have more time and less rain.
We capped off our weekend with brunch in Gig Harbor. And SUN!
Labor Day weekend was quiet – we decided to spend the last weekend of summer break close to home and ventured no farther than Jefferson Park when we felt a bit antsy. It scratched the itch – new grass to run around on! Bigger slides on the playground!
And dandelions as far as the eye could see.
Shane’s mom came to town the day after Labor Day and folded right into our family hub-bub. We loved having her around – cheers to Grandma time!
Ah, summer. It’s so hard to see you go. So long, spray parks…
And spontaneous evening sprinkler runs.
We loved our sunny drives in the big blue car (though Isaac may insist we keep these up through Fall)…
And especially our front yard water fights.
Dump truck car washes…
And beach ball shenanigans.
What a beautiful season, in so many ways. But on with the business of September. And school! Juliette started fifth grade and I realized as I was snapping these pics that we were memorializing her last first day of elementary grade. Our walks down the street to our neighborhood school suddenly feel numbered.
Although I suppose in a couple of years Isaac will be a sporting a backpack and we’ll do this all over again! That makes me feel equal parts comforted and exhausted.
“One more hug, Juliette!”
And then, with a final wave goodbye, summer break officially came to a close. Bring on the pumpkins.
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