Summer is gone?

Ok - where did summer go?  Can't believe school starts tomorrow.  Has it been a busy summer?  Hmm, well just a tad for me anyway. 

Spent six weeks traveling to Alaska with my brother and his wife!  They took their travel trailer and we in our fifth wheel camper.  It was fabulous and when I get the over 1000 pictures I took sorted I will post some of the best.  So hard to choose as every sight in Alaska was like a picture postcard.  It really is the most beautiful state in the union as far as I have seen and I have been to a lot of them.  The mountains, waterfalls, volcanoes, glaciers, wildlife (lots of bears) and the ocean views just amazed us.  We felt like we were in a dream - both of us said many times we just couldn't believe we were there.  It was a trip of a lifetime.  It was also a trip we won't make again.  :)   The roads are worth putting up with once to see Alaska but not twice.  The frost heaves and road construction made the highways crazy rough.  Often we drove 20 mph and then had to slow down.  The road construction there is when they take the entire road for miles and miles and tear it down to dirt and add some gravel.  The dust is unbelievable and you can barely stand the roughness.  We broke a spring on the trailer and spent an extra five days (and $2000) in Whitehorse Canada.  We did some sightseeing while there so it wasn't a total bummer and many have much worse repairs to make traveling that road.  At least we didn't get a cracked windshield.  The worst of the roads were in Canada - Dawson Creek is mile mark zero of the Alaskan Highway or the AlCan highway and from there to the border is just awful.  But most of Canada was bad - lots of sudden dips that really jar a person when towing a trailer.  All in all it was a wonderful trip that we will never forget and I am so happy we made it. 

We got back on Friday, August 2nd and got the trailer unloaded over the weekend.  I started babysitting the girls on Monday and Tuesday Jessica flew to Wichita and we went to a Taylor Swift concert that evening.   That was quite the experience for both of us.  She put on such a marvelous show!  Jessica loved it and so did I.  Jessica stayed the rest of the week and was a huge help with the girls.  On Friday the 9th we drove her back to Texas and spent the weekend coming back on Sunday.  Had a good time of shopping, movie going and of course soccer.  :)  Saw my daughter that never played a sport as she was growing up score two goals! 

We came back on Sunday, changed clothes and met Jimmy's family at Century II for Music Theater of Wichita's presentation of Mary Poppins.  Oh   My  Goodness!  What a fabulous presentation it was.  I have been to quite a few plays but this one tops them all.    If the tickets weren't so dang high I would go back again this weekend.   The girls LOVED it!   After the play we took them home and they spent the night.  

This week I am babysitting the girls again and they plan to start first grade tomorrow but right now that is up in the air since their school caught fire yesterday.  The district will evaluate the damage today and let the parents know how they will handle the situation.  Apparently there was quite a bit of damage so the kids might be relocated to one of the old empty school buildings for awhile. 

One more big event - Audrey had her first ballet recital last night.  How cute was that.  :)   She loves ballet and tap dancing and was a bit shy at first then just let loose and danced her little heart out. 

As soon as school gets started for the girls I am going to do some sub work for the district putting in pupil information forms in the system.  Have not done that since I worked at Franklin and I am sure it is very different now. 

So - crazy busy is what I have heard retirement is all about and I am beginning to believe it.