Today

Today is the LAST DAY OF SUMMER BREAK!
The big kids have been out of school since May 24th-- not that I'm keeping track.

They start school tomorrow and Gracie will go to morning preschool in 2 days.

Time to funnel this energy into some learning!

Today I'm ironing uniform shirts and dresses and finalizing paperwork to turn in to the schools.
It's surprising how little information they actually want.

"Nope, we don't need grade reports, immunization records or allergy information.  Nor school supplies for elementary students, for that matter."

Seriously? Well OK then.

Today I'm also kicking myself for ever saying a cross word about our washing machine, because it currently isn't working.  She must've heard about my love letter to former dryers.  

She's a moody and jealous thing but hopefully she'll come around quickly.

We took our first drive as a family this weekend and it was all of 0.7 miles to the grocery store and 0.7 back.  We're going again today because kids eat me out of house and home in the summer and there are already more groceries that need to be bought and lunch boxes to be prepped.
Check our fancy new ride:

Yeah baby!  It's a Ford C-Max and at 3 years old it only had 10,000 miles on it.  I would consider it a station wagon but it is a van to the Brits.  Yesterday when I had to back it down a street lined with cars on both sides it felt as big as a Hummer, though!
We still plan to walk as much as possible but a car was needed to get the kids to their schools on time. We're not quite ready to let J walk to school across town on his own.

Today I'm also deciding where to next take my writing. Right now it is all solely for my own pleasure and the sharing with friends and family that might be interested.  I have a couple things in the works that might be exciting, though, and I'm definitely going to create a different blog centered around the logistics of traveling to or moving to the UK from America, especially with kids.  There are limited resources available on the subject and it would be a shame not to share with others what we've learned.

So, there are busy days ahead but I look forward to "getting back to business" and first on the list for the blog is a post about my Paris trip with K.

We had a fantastic weekend together, it's just been hard for me to know how to best share it because it feels personal.  The gift of seeing a child's dream fulfilled feels surprisingly intimate, as if by sharing it, it will somehow be lost.  I think I've figured out a fun approach but it's going to take a little time to write up.  

Again, part of the "business" I want to get back to when the kids start school tomorrow.

Today we are just preparing for what's to come and enjoying the last of the 14 and a half weeks of summer that they've been out of school.  

Not that I'm keeping track...