Popping ~

Your children are not your children.

They are the sons and daughters of Life's longing for itself.

They come through you but not from you,

And though they are with you, yet they belong not to you.

You may give them your love but not your thoughts.

For they have their own thoughts.

You may house their bodies but not their souls,

For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow, which you cannot visit,
not even in your dreams.

You may strive to be like them, but seek not to make them like you.

For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday.

You are the bows from which your children as living arrows are sent forth.

The archer sees the mark upon the path of the infinite, and He bends you
with His might that His arrows may go swift and far.

Let your bending in the archer's hand be for gladness;

For even as he loves the arrow that flies, so He loves also the bow that
is stable.

-- Kahlil Gibran

Summer ~

There has been a chill in the air, especially at night, that foretells the coming of fall with undeniable certainty. We've learned to grasp, what always seems, the shortest season here and try to hold on as tightly as possible. However, as with all things, time moves on bringing the promise of new adventures to come. This summer's adventures have included our 6 year old taking her first steps at learning to swim solo...going underwater and swimming with just a noodle. The maturing and freedom searching of our 14 year old as he spends more time away from home. Our 4 year old's fascination with letters and sounds and finally, watching our 7 year old make connections between things in the world that I wouldn't have even guessed he knew about much less grasped. Amazing what tiny & miraculous moments each season brings ~

Oh Canada ~

It was time for a little family vacation and the boys had been asking to go back to Quebec City so, we happily obliged with a quick 2 night stay a little north ~

Quebec City ~ so beautiful...the old city, carriage rides, the falls... the aquarium...We were even there for a night of the International Fireworks competition when the US was competing...yes, so much to see and do. Thoughts from these guys on all of this? "Can we go to the pool again?".

Yes, they would have been completely thrilled after hours of driving to play in that pool for the *entire* stay. Mind you, we live on a lake...swimming is an almost daily occurance here. Still, something about that pool (even with the sore, red eyes afterward). They just couldn't stay away...

Despite their best efforts, we did manage some fun activities (albiet, interspersed with the expected, "When can we go swimming again?").

Ah... vacation :)