September follows Summer

Today, as I walked through the doors of my first evening class of the semester, I gave a somewhat courteous, if however hesitant farewell to my summer and greeted my fall responsibilities with nervous, but genuine enthusiasm. I had a great, jam-packed summer with many terrific moments that were way too short. But something keeps telling me I am ready to move on, even if part of me could relive this summer at least 2 more times and be just as excited as the first. Here are a few camera-phone interpretations of my summertime events.

Lindsay and Aaron took me to my first concert since I was twelve (when I saw Amy Grant live). This is Sean Hayes performing at the San Diego yoga studio. Cool venue, great music. Thanks guys!

Went to the zoo while Tamra and Aunt Becky were here visiting. Later on, we saw a large bird swoop down and eat a baby duck in one gulp. Strange. Tragic.

I taught a 2-week summer film camp at MoPA. A great group of creative and hilarious kids.

I made graduation certificates for each of them and we had a mini-Academy Awards moment...with the red carpet, too!

Spending some time at the local park with Morgan and Brody. My, how Brody's grown!

Seattle in the Summer...sometimes I think there's nothing sweeter. This is the view atop Mt. Constitution on Orcas Island. I hiked to the top with my Uncle Scott, my brother BJ, and my cousins. My calf muscles may never be the same, but it was worth it.

Another shot. I need to get pictures from my sister and cousins from their cameras. They'll show the range of our family of hikers...senior citizens (sorry Uncle Scott) to newborn babes.

Here are some pictures of my dear, best friend Jenny. It's a bit blurry, but you can see her belly is smiling.

I had so much fun visiting her and Jeff and being a part of her pregnant days. She is so cute. I love you, Jenny!

As soon as I returned from Seattle, I drove up to Northern San Diego County to babysit these darling children. Their parents have been good friends of mine for years. We made our own pool in the sand.

Some other highlights that my camera-phone didn't capture are:

Swimming across a lake, conquering my fear of dark water.
Diving from bridges and trees into the lake.
Spending several fun days with Tamra and Aunt Becky camping, doing hot Yoga, and just being together.
Cruising in the Cadillac, singing like crazy with my big brother BJ.
Listening to Caroline over the phone as she described her experiences taking over my job while I was in Seattle. She coped well.
Hearing that Joe had won a tournament and Caroline had received her first job offer.
Reading the entire Twilight series.
Baby shopping with Jenny and Jeff.
Spending time with the Gough and Penaranda families.
Flying JetBlue for the first time.
Returning to the open arms of the San Diego constituents of the Prince family.

Goodbye summer. You were great.