Bye, Summer. There are way more than 5 reasons why I love you best.

This is it.

Summer is over.

And what I'd really like to do, is have a big, giant, throw-myself-on-the-floor-flailing-and-kicking-and-crying-and-screaming temper tantrum over it.

It might not help, but you never know, it's worth a shot.  At the very least, it would definitely make me feel better.  And it would be an excellent example for my children, no?

For a couple weeks now, it's been progressively getting colder outside.  And I've noticed that it's a lot easier to get the kids into bed before 9pm, because it's getting darker earlier.  And I'm actually sleeping with clothes on (sorry for the visual, friends, let's just move on).  Instead of being refreshing, my beloved green slushy vodka just makes me cold.  We shut the A/C off a long time ago.  I am trying to deny all of this, and desperately cling to summer and all the awesome that it brings, but as I sit here wrapped in fleece pajama pants, slippers and a long-sleeved shirt, my fingers ice-cold, I just can't deny it any longer.

It's over.

This summer was, like, the BEST SUMMER EVER.  It really was.

Why, you ask?

Well, let me tell you.

 1.  I wasn't working.  Last summer, I had the (ridiculous) idea that maybe I should work, like, a 'real' job, outside of the house.  So, I started working at Costco.  And it was super fun at first, but then the 5-day schedule and busy, all-over-the-place hours just got to be way too much, and I packed it in in October.  So last summer was kind of a no-fun summer.  We couldn't go on any holidays, and I only had two days off every week, which were my only two full days to spend with my kids and clean my house and do all the running around, and yes I know this is how the rest of the world works but when you haven't worked a job like that in 6 years, it was a shock, OK!?  So this time around, the kids and I had all the time in the world, and we took full advantage of it.  I loved having nobody to answer to but my own family.  It was awesome.

2.  We went on two super fun holidays.  First to Seattle for a week, where we went to a ball game and did all sorts of touristy things and then I shopped like a crazy woman because that's just what I do when I get to America, I buy everything I see and I eat everything I see and that, my friends, is the PERFECT holiday in my eyes.  Next, we went to Kootenay Lake, which was kind of like camping but not actually camping so I didn't have to sleep next to the bugs and the murderers, or be cold or drink lukewarm diet Coke out of a cooler or pee in an outhouse/public toilet; BUT we still got to have the beach at our doorstep and drink lots of beer and walk around in our pajamas, which to me is what camping SHOULD be.

3.  I totally got my house organized from head to toe.  Kids rooms, basement, toys, storage room, kitchen cabinets, den closet, all of my clothes and crap I've compiled over many of the previously-mentioned shopping excursions, and etc.  Nothing makes me happier than everything having a home, and baby, I purged.  I cleaned.  I painted.  I sorted.  I was like a freaking machine.  And I loved it.  And now, if you ask me where some random obscure kitchen tool or piece of some dumb little dollar store toy that the kids refused to part with is, I could totally tell you.

4.  AJ grew a huge amount of confidence in the water.  Throughout this entire summer, my kids were in some body of water - pools, lakes, rivers, waterslides, puddles, whatever was available - and most of the time, they were with a whole bunch of their friends.  Watching his little buddies do things that he was still uncomfortable with, gave him the confidence to at least TRY some of it.  By the end of summer, he could swim the width of my friend N's backyard pool without his floaties; he could float on his front and back; he was confident enough to jump in, go down the slide, try somersaults underwater, and he even did a FLIP off the DIVING BOARD at my aunt and uncle's place (I kiboshed that activity the minute it happened, but he was so proud of himself, and Shawn even got it on video.  It still makes my heart race when I watch it, like I'm sure this time he's going to crack his head open, even though that never actually happened and it's the same video every time.)  Mackenzie's been a fish since about 10 weeks old, but AJ's always been more hesitant in the water, and this summer, his confidence grew 100-fold.

5.  And lastly, T, V, D, and N.  Our visits and gatherings and crazy conversations that still make me laugh when I think about them, really made this summer complete.  Thank you, a million times, for keeping me from going crazy this summer.  And line up my shots for D.F. this school year!

Later, Summer.  I love you!!  Now bring on Fall...