end of summer rituals

the end of summer is here. it's not such a bad thing. i love the end of summer. the start of the school year. harvest season. early fall. crisp nights, hot days, full weekends, full hearts.

we picked vegetables at the farm,


and we cooked and mashed and boiled and canned over and over and over. so many tomatilloes, now so much salsa.

the orton park festival and the aerial acrobats had their show and the kids finally are old enough to stay up on a friday night to see it. and watching their faces was as amazing as watching the acrobats dancing from the trees.


we canoed in the sun (and dragged the kids along in their own little vessel, which was amazing), and snuggled on the beach blanket.



david and his friends formed a softball team


and we cheered the uw women's volleyball game to a jaw-dropping power-performance victory.


later, we rode our bikes to the terrace and celebrated by climbing lightpoles outside the union.



and we're getting a little excited about fall.




maybe a lot excited.