Summer, Where Did You Go?

Summer Fun:

Where in the world did my summer go? Maybe. if I reflect a bit it won't feel like it flew by in a flash.

 My grandson, Carter will head off to another school in the fall. Our time together at school is over.  I will miss going to school with him and having him in the library with me. 1st grade was a year of growth and independence for Carter. What an awesome year he had!  I can't wait to see his growth next year.

Memorial Day and the week following started my summer break. My husband and I went to southern Illinois to visit mom (John's mom). It was a lot of fun to spend time with family and we made lotsa of memories. 

Here are a few pics from our trip.

 I spent some quiet time in the early mornings and evenings reading by the lake. One day we all went strawberry picking and the grand kids loved it. My grandsons got to spend some time with their cousin Mya.   My kids and grand kids left to come back home after the holiday weekend. John and I stayed and enjoyed fishing, shopping and visiting with family. It is always nice to go back home.

We spent time at the lake and even camped in early June when it was cool enough for a sweatshirt. Not typical Kansas weather but John and I enjoyed it tremendously. Even met some friends out at the lake which was nice.

We planted our garden in May and early June. What a blessing this garden has been. Spending time caring for it with my husband and grand kids, and enjoying all we have grown there in. Also, to be able to share with neighbors, family and friends has been wonderful.

 I spent time with friends shopping, movie going, a trip to Legoland and the Sealife Aquarium in Kansas City, a few weddings and graduations and I finally made it out to The Oz Winery with my good friend Susan. Lots of fun.

 Yet, that's not all, through out this summer I did some tutoring in Salina, KS. for 5 students who needed some extra help.  I was proud of each and every one of them and their families for helping and supporting them. Needless to say, I spent a lot of time at the Salina Public Library. They were so kind, helpful and supportive.

 Then John and I went to Colorado for our 11 days in Estes Park. We had quite an amazing trip. It started out with an eventful road trip. We drove from Abilene, Kansas to Estes Park, Colorado and somewhere around Goodland, Kansas we were struck with a piece of wood about a foot long.  It flew out of the bed of a truck. It struck our windshield and my life literally flashed before my eyes.

We were driving our truck and had driven roughly half way to Estes Park.  Our windshield was smashed.  We made the decision to continue to drive toward Estes, Park. As we did, we could hear the windshield crackling along the way. I was making calls trying to find a location to repair our windshield.  It was a Saturday before a holiday and nobody was available. Albeit, I was able to make an appointment for Monday in Loveland, Colorado to have it repaired. The closest place to where we were staying.

We continued our journey and arrived safely to our cabin at River Spruce Cottages, in Estes Park. It was beautiful, scenic and oh so inviting after our long trip.  Our camp hosts were Jim and Becky and they were simply amazing.

 We had a wonderful time, captured some beautiful scenery, seen some amazing sights and met some friendly people. We went hiking, saw several waterfalls, we got to see moose, elk. deer and bighorn sheep in their natural habitat.  We also went golfing on two amazing golf courses that had the most spectacular views. All in all it was an incredible trip where the mountains meet the clouds.

When we arrived home we were able to spend time with our grand kids and enjoy some time with my lab, Berkley.

Brielle is catching bubbles while I drink my coffee.

I had a wonderful opportunity to be a part of a reviewer group called The Kidlit Exchange. Authors and publishers give books and ARCS (advanced reader copies) for review. It is a wonderful book community and many of them are now friends.

I will post my summer reading list in my next post. 

Happy Reading,

Tula Shamhart