the unlikely orange

i wrote a couple of days ago about the end of the summer and the return to school.  that was the first time i had poked my head into this old pixelated space in over a month.  why?  because summer was awesome-sauce.  every year we do a summer bucket list in which we have a whole heap of things that we hope to accomplish over the summer, in the spirit of making memories and living fully as a family.  this summer we leaped headlong into that heap, and made the most of every moment.  i want to share a couple of posts here over the next couple of weeks, to show you just some of what we did. one highlight of the summer occurred just at the end, last week, to be exact, when we headed to the city of brotherly love for 3 days and 2 nights, and we had a blast.  we packed every last moment with the following activities: -the franklin institute (and the lego art exhibit there...amazing!) -went through part of the museum with family friends who live in the ...

back to school.  the turning of a page, closing one chapter and beginning a brand new one.  this page seems particularly difficult to turn, probably because we had an amazing summer.  i'll write more about that later, but summer at our house was full and vibrant and i can't blame my boys for not really wanting it to end. but whether they wanted it to end or not, it has.  and even though they don't realize it yet, the page has turned to a new chapter that will be full of adventure and discovery and learning new things and hopefully doing some things they never thought they could do. i love the first day of school.  sharpened pencils.  the smell of textbooks.  empty notebooks, and wondering what will fill them.  the untold story of what i will learn, and how it will fit into my life.  the untapped potential still wrapped in cellophane inside me, just waiting to be unwrapped and sharpened. i want my kids to feel the same.  i want t...