The tail end of summer

I can't believe it is already August! It seems like I finished with my end of the semester papers last week, not three months ago. Well, I guess like all other good things, summer must come to an end as well. Between Dave teaching summer school and my summer job at Starbucks, we have had some fun times and a little relaxation. First, let me brag on my husband, who brought home for me these beautiful roses earlier this week. I have been enjoying them in the living room for the past couple of days while I read Anne of the Island, the third book in the Anne of Green Gables series. They are so fragrant. I actually looked on the packaging and they call these "circus roses". Maybe we need three rings in our living room to match!


This past week Dave and I made the drive to Arkansas to visit his parents for a couple of days. I decided on this trip that I offically love going to visit my in-laws. This seems a bit odd, because they live in the tiniest of towns where the Wal-Mart is a big attraction. But, after my college experience in a small town, I think I enjoy seeing them so much, not just because I love them both tremendously and they are the greatest in-laws in the world, but because it allows me to revisit those college days of mine. Plus, they always have fun and interesting things for us to do, and Mom cooks fantastic while we are there. For example, this summer they drove us out to Mansfield, MO just so I could see the Laura Ingalls Wilder house and museum. I have loved these books and television shows since I was a little girl, and I still do. Here is Dave and I on the front porch of the house Laura and Almanzo lived in when they moved to Mansfield in the early 30s.

And of course, here is the house from a different angle. We got to tour the home and see all sorts of artifacts from her journey across the USA that she wrote about in her books, including Pa's fiddle!

Another thing I love about visiting my in-laws is their cooking. Dad always seems to make the best desserts in his dutch oven. Below is a picture of the fresh blackberry cobbler he made from berried picked right on their college campus!

We also took a little excursion up to Hardy, a city smaller then Walnut Ridge, to the Spring River (i think). It is absolutley beautiful, with so many picnic sites and beautiful homes along the coast. Last summer we spent a whole day on the river with tubes and rafts. Dave and Dad looked for craw-dads and I avoided Water Mocassians. I requested to go back this summer for a picnic, and afterwards we walked their down town strip with all kinds of antique shops and little cafe's. It was so fun. I decided I wanted to live in the house below if we ever had to move there :>).

See how pretty and peaceful the water is!

The week before we left for Arkansas, my siblings were in town, all at one time! With our busy lives and homes across the country, this is a rare occurrence. I took a few days off work so we could all hang out together. We had many fun meals out, went to see Harry Potter 5, and to Shakespeare in the Park, where my sister-in-law's brother was the lead in Love Labors Lost. Here is a picture of me, my sister Sarah, my sister in law Rachel, and Rachel's mom, Carolyn, all waiting for the show to start. We stopped and got a whole feast of food before and had a lovely picnic!

My last day at my summer job, working at the Starbucks in the Target down the street, is Monday and training for the new school year with McGraw-Hill starts Tuesday. After that it is just two more weeks till year #2 of grad school starts again and year #3 of teaching for Dave starts again. I pose the question to you all again....where did our summer go so fast?