We left for Iowa last week, and now we’re back. We had a baby shower for my sister (a second one, with other family and friends), and celebrated my mom’s birthday too. I’m so glad I got to be a part of that. I thought it might be too late in the summer to see fireflies, but we lucked out. My boy caught fireflies each night before bed, and then released them again. Fireflies were such a magical part of my childhood, and I was so glad for him to get to experience that. (He was pretty young the last time.) We ventured outside in the heat and humidity for a few walks during the day also, and admired the wildflowers and even caught some frogs.

I thought we were experiencing allergies while we were there, but once we returned home I realized we were actually sick with head colds. (No fun, but the downtime has been needed.) That was our last trip for the summer (my goodness, what a full one we have had!), and I’m really glad to be home now and feel relieved to be here for awhile. I planned to get caught up on so many things over the summer, but our schedule was too full for much of that, and now I feel like summer is almost over. I’ve felt exhausted and a bit stretched with so much travel, and so much going on, while simultaneously feeling grateful for the family time we’ve been able to have. Time with family is important and I don’t want to take that for granted.

Jeff has been sticking close to home, taking care of himself and getting a lot done around the place, and my body is ready for some self-care and home time too. I know this space has been quieter than usual this summer and I’ve missed writing. It’s so centering for me to come here, there are so many words inside of me and the more I write the more relieved I feel. That might sound funny, but it’s true. A friend wondered if I was going to keep blogging and yes, I most definitely am. I’ve taken lots of pictures and have quite a few projects I’ve been wanting to share with you. Thank you for continuing to visit this space!