What I Did On My Summer Vacation

It’s back. School year has descended upon us once again. Sigh. I have a bit of angst usually about this time. Part of me is sad the lazy days of summer are at an end. I didn’t miss cracking the whip on homework, making lunches, or being chauffeur. It was so good to have a break from all that.

However, there are some benefits to the school routine- namely more free time! That’s otherwise known as,”me time,” people, and let’s be frank it’s been scarce! Really scarce.

I foolishly had plans to paint, organize and redecorate. Yeah right. My poor blog has suffered as well. Time just escaped me. After my big reunion, we fell fully into school ready mode, orientations and all that jazz. I did begin my big fall purge where I basically throw out all the things I can while no one is looking!! But I digress. . .

Deep breath, exhale.

We have had some lovely 76 degree weather for a large part of summer.

Oodles of time to do nothing much. Exactly as it should be.

Have you read about the latest studies that show more sun exposure actually makes you smarter? My secret weapon against those moms who put their kids in achievement academies all summer. 😀

Much outdoor dining.

Alfresco nibbles and wine tasting at Testarossa, our in town winery. They have a fabulous patio among old oaks and wonderful wines. If you are in Los Gatos don’t miss it!

Fun with sisters, Unathi and Leia and their new puppy Ramona.

Camps. Grif and buddy Nicholas gearing up for a night hike.

Road trips

A wonderful family reunion in Discovery Bay given by my Aunt Wendy.

The kids had a blast with all the toys they have.

Quality cousin time.

Camping!

Visits to one of my favorite spot in Northern California, Pinecrest Lake! It wouldn’t be summer without a trip here with my brother Peter his wife Line and their three kids.

Quality time with all the family members…

Apparently my home puts a few to sleep!

Gardening was another summer joy and thanks to my dad’s help I had the best tomatoes ever this year!

This neighborhood cat, Luke is ubiquitous around these parts. He’s my garden buddy too.

My youngest made this bean bag chair/tower his spot in the garage- aka boy cave. Lots of slacking off in there as well.

I wasn’t stressing too much about the downtime as both tried some things they never did before. The eldest worked as a assistant at the local youth science program. Some grunt work like making slime and untangling first grader’s fishing lines, and the like was his assignment.

Otherwise he was addicted to Reddit, gaming and swimming- or sort of…

The youngest made a four day Scout backpacking trek into the Sierras on the Pacific Crest Trail. While I wasn’t so crazy about him sleeping without a tent and carrying a very heavy pack, after I saw the photos, I knew it was a once in a lifetime trip.

Luckily, my husband got to go along and took these beautiful photos.

I’m going to frame this one I think.

They hiked to three different lakes- The Dardanelles, Round Lake and Meiss Lake and made camp each night. That’s him and friends Jinyu and Liam packing out. They had some big packs for 11 year olds.

The Sierras has the most gorgeous and diverse terrain. Almost made me want to go too. (Then I think about the bathroom situation and the sleeping in the open.)

Apparently last week was a perfect time to go. Weather was not hot and the colors are starting to look like fall a bit already. It quickly gets too cool to camp in the Sierras at night come later September. The window is pretty short.

The granite lakes are just too gorgeous.

Finally, I had to share some exciting news about my dear husband Max and his start-up. I told you a while back about his decision to try his hand at beginning his own company. Their product finally launched in it’s finished version a few weeks ago and it’s been doing terrific! Yea. It’s been a ton of work and I’m so proud of him! And all of us for living through it! (Only kidding.:)

It’s called MYND and it’s a calendar app that is really smart. It’s accesses your calendars and brings you a wonderful visual version of it each day along with reminders of appointments, when to leave to give you drive time, estimated traffic and weather, even maps right a touch of your finger. Even myself, a strictly paper and pen diehard, am loving the look of my day view and it’s managing of my crud. It’s also saved me a few times by telling me to leave NOW to get somewhere on time. My estimates can sometimes be just a bit off… (Friends laughing here.)

Myndcalendar.com

Seriously cool and it’s free right now in the App store. You click on the link above to get on the MYND site. So check it out if you have an IPhone and hopefully it will soon be available for others. I’d love to hear what you think of it!

Hey, it’s not even Labor Day yet! There’s still time to complete that summer bucket list!

My son Griffin’s below.