Summer's almost over??

After thinking that the summer would never end, it seems as if it is drawing to a close rather quickly. Two weeks from now John will start his second year of preschool and a steady routine will control our daily lives. I think we're all ready for that consistency again. John's been having some behavior troubles lately and we've been dealing with a lot of sibling squabbles. I know I'm looking forward to having some time to myself during the afternoon preschool/nap time. In the meantime, I've been slowly getting us ready for the fall - buying some cold weather clothing, clearing out old toys and clothes, cleaning projects that have been waiting around all summer, and getting a fall activity schedule lined up. Today we got Kara some new brown fall shoes that she insisted on wearing out of Target. I just finished looking online at some programs from Hooked on Phonics to see what level John needs to be working towards next (after a lot of guilt on my part for not pushing him a little more this summer, but oh well, it's summer, right?). It feels like fall is coming up quickly and I'm absolutely looking forward to it and all the fun and challenges it will bring with it. I'm a little concerned about how John's going to adapt to going back to school. His class will have many familiar faces, but also quite a few new ones, which can make him a bit nervous. He never hesitated last year, and it was an entirely new situation, so hopefully this year will be as smooth as that. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for now.

For the last week or two, every day John keeps saying, "I know what we can do today. We can go to the beach!" I would love nothing more than to return to the beach for a 3rd time this summer, but we can't afford it, don't have the time, and I just can't pack/plan for yet another trip this summer. But the more he says it, the better it sounds to me. I guess maybe I'm not really all that ready for summer to be over....