Where Has the Summer Gone?

The answer to the above question?... It's gone to lawn mowing, trips to the cabin, reunions with friends, great times with the grandkids, and growing older.  ( all great except for the last ).  We are still recovering from the last couple of whirlwind weeks.  We spent a week at the cabin with my sister and her husband and my mother. Fished a lot, ate a lot, played cards and games, and caught up on all the news from California ( Linda and Bob are from Sacramento).  We even got my 89 year old mother on the 4-wheeler for the first time in her life ( I ran a shuttle service from the cabin to the dock so she could go fishing). All in all a great time.  Then we came home on the Friday of Labor Day weekend to pick up the kids and take their mom to the airport.  She and Sean spent Labor Day weekend in D.C. as a celebration of Sean's Birthday, and the kids got to spend 5 days at Gramma and Grampa's house.  I think this is the longest they've ever been away from mom and dad, and I know it's the longest they've ever stayed at our house.
We had a great time doing all the things they wanted to do, including 2 movie nights, a trip to Choo-Choo Bob's ( a local model train store), riding on the carousel at the mall, a trip to the playground, a trip to great- gramma's house, 5 days of playing with every toy in our house, and their favorite of all, BATH NIGHTS! They love to turn on the "bubbles" ( whirlpool jets) and make bubble beards and moustaches, play with all their tub toys, and squirt Gramma and Grampa with their squirt bottles.  While happy to see their mom and dad, they weren't so happy about going home again. 
     Needless to say, we were pretty tired after our adventure.  I then was on for daycare duty the next day,  so I had 6 days in a row with the little darlings, and to be honest, a couple days off after that were welcome.  I spent most of that time putting toys away and putting our house back together.  One of the funniest things that happened was when Jack decided he couldn't sleep in the same room as Wes, so after a prolonged period of discussion, Jack ended up on the floor of the upstairs hallway with a quilt, pillow, blanket, nightlight and flashlight.  Of course he soon was sleeping crossways in the hall,blocking access to the bathroom and creating a bottleneck.  The next night he decided that he would be able to sleep in the bedroom after all.  The thought process of a 4 year old is inexplicable.
     All in all it was a great time, and one that we will remember with great fondness and humor.