Your Mom looks out at the late afternoon sky and sighs, “Summer is almost over.”
That’s true. Sunsets shift closer to dinnertime and Back to School signs flood the stores. You’re back at school next week, and your brother starts the week after.
This summer has been one for the records. We did a lot of shuffling life around last year and it paid off. We spent tons of time at Harstine Island, enjoying beach walks, pool time and evening bonfires at the spit. That was the main event, of course, spending as much time as possible at the family cabin. You and Matteo got into a good habit of commuting there once or twice per week, settling into your “Kindle Firepads” (not exactly the product name, but close) on car rides, and sleeping pretty much anywhere you had to as friends and family often stayed over, too.
In between those island trips, we still got to other places. We took a trip to spend the night at Paradise Inn at Mt. Rainier. We hiked high up on the mountain, wandered the lodge at night and took our time hiking some trails, motivated by gummy worms. Oh, and we crossed the gnarly Nisqually River on one of those hikes! We took SUPs out to surprisingly-warm Lake Cushman and floated out on the lake for hours. We might go back again this weekend. Your Uncle Scott picked up a Sea-Doo jet ski, and you got plenty of hours getting pulled on floaties or just driving around with an adult.
I’m re-reading what I just typed above and that all happened in the last month. This is the good life, kiddo, and don’t you forget it. It’s been an amazing summer and we have many, many more ahead.
Love always,
Dad