Music and Motion

So, the heat wave broke last weekend. To celebrate, Eileen got her training wheels removed. She is still a little shaky starting and stopping, but otherwise, she is tooling around quite easily on her two wheeled bicycle.

Chicago - and a return to normalcy

For those who didn't know where I disappeared to, the answer was a family reunion and a chance to remember how incredible my last remaining grandmother was - a life full of adventure and obstacles overcome with a smile, an ability to laugh off the tough times and create a positive future. She died with all three kids nearby and the three local grandkids and three or four great grand kids nearby. If I learn to become half the kind person Grandma Edie was, it will be a good thing. And, all of us Hirschs gather in Chicago for a memorial. Eileen had a great time playing with her cousins (first and more distant ones).

I know you are thinking that I would do anything to avoid the 100+ temperatures here, but in truth we are used to things here and there are some benefits to this summer. The bug population is sure a lot smaller. We got more time together as a family indoors doing things. Because I was out of town when the sign ups happened for Gymnastics, Eileen missed not just July (due to our vacation) but August. And so, she convinced me that Dance classes would be more appropriate. 

That brings us to the school year (starting on Monday): School for Little People again, with some new faces and some old friends; Dance classes once a week; Violin classes once a week; and Sunday School.

For me, I am going to finally have time to get the house really clean, catch up with both Officers' Spouses' Club responsibilities and Support Our Squadron work. And I am thinking of research proposals again - thank goodness my brain is starting to kick in.

the cost of hot hot hot is hard on the wildlife

Let's preface this with the statement that except for the people in the Northwest, we are all suffering from the heat, but with two animals dead from heat related issues in the past week in our tiny yard, I am feeling like we don't have the right to even complain. Not that it keeps me from complaining.

Eileen was a mess after going through two outdoor experiences today. Too much sun. Too hot. She has reached the point of preferring to swim at the indoor YMCA pool rather than outdoors.