Good Bye, Summer 2018

alexandradavis02
Oct 17, 2018
2 min read

Fall may have started back in September, but this week is the official start to sweater weather. It was so hot, so humid, so muggy that last week we had our air conditioning on, and now, in the evenings, we've got the heat on!

To celebrate the real beginnings of fall, I'm doing a bit of reflecting. It is our LAST autumn here, as transfer season is upon us. Seriously? We're coming up on 4, count them, FOUR years of living in Northern VA? It. Has. Flown. By. I can't believe we move next summer.

So that is it. Our last full summer here, gone and done. Ended. I blinked, and it was over.

We spent our summer days full of hiking, exploring creeks, camping, road tripping, eating popsicles, swimming, playing with new and old friends and family, and... drawing with chalk. Betcha didn't see that coming... I'm all reflective and deep about how we are moving (and I have so many feels about this...) but really, I also wanted to make sure I saved these photos for Ruby to see sometime in her future.

It all started with this little I LOVE YOU idea. We made it for Mimi, Nanee, Grammie, and Aunt Sonia as part of their personalized Mother's Day Cards.

And it evolved into... Ruby making her own drawing, and making ME lay down for her to take my photo. Not too bad! I figured she cooperated for all of the others, occasionally I could repay the favor.

I saw it on Pinterest. I can't take credit. But I do have a creative desire... not a creative ability, mind you, but a desire to express myself through art. I'm terrible at most art, and I don't have a lot of time for huge projects, which is why sidewalk chalk is the perfect medium. So I got a lot of my ideas from other Pins, BUT I did break out and start inventing my own sidewalk chalk drawings, and I have more up my sleeve for fall and winter designs. When I have 10 seconds to myself (like once a week while I locked myself in the bathroom for a moment of privacy to poop in peace) I brainstorm my next chalk ideas. Seriously.

It was a summer of growth. It was a summer of adventure. It was an unforgettable summer, full of the best memories a family could make. And it was the summer Ruby spent laying on the asphalt covered in chalk powder while her slightly crazy mama took a million photos trying to get the "perfect" one.