ok it's october...

...so I think I need to finish up posting about our summer trip in the next few days.  Although where we were in northern California it's still summer there now, a time known as "Indian summer."

Looking back, what a sweet time we had.   We spent the first few weeks in our old hometown staying a few minutes from our old house, in a place across the street from an old friend of mine.  Her teen son spent a lot of time with our kids, as teens do.  We had them over for dinner a few times.  We settled in to this tree lined sidewalked street and I pruned the rose bushes in their yard.  All of our kids had their own rooms which worked out well, especially after being in a hotel room for a straight week.  We stocked up on summer fruit and made fruit salads every morning.  The kids walked to the local high school and skateboarded there almost daily. Our girls took some private hip hop lessons with Miss Christina.  My friend Kate took us for a hike on top of a mountain. All of our kids made new friends. Annabel met a new friend who plays guitar. They have stayed in touch all of these months via Skype, and just tonight at dinner Annabel was saying how supportive they are of one another's music.