The End of Summer

During the last weekend of summer vacation (meaning Labor Day weekend), my husband finally finished the Victorian Dollhouse project he has been working on since 2000. Yes, that is correct. He began building this for our oldest daughter, Courtney. She wanted a Victorian style dollhouse. (she was really into the Victorian era thanks to her American Girl Doll, Samantha, and the Samantha books). So...for her 7 year old birthday, Dave thought he could build a dollhouse. From scratch. Yes. It took 8 years. I begged and begged for this to get done. It was a long project. He didn't always have time or desire to work on it. But...it is finally finished! She is now 15. It sits here in her room, next to her desk, filled with all the Victorian style furniture and people she has been collecting since her birthday of July, 2000. She even lets her younger sister, Claire (age 9) play with it. Claire was 2 when this project began. And No. Dave is not planning on making Claire a dollhouse. Just in case you were wondering. Claire likes all things Native American. She has the American girl doll, Kaya. She has the tent that her paternal grandparents created for her. She is not getting a dollhouse. If she does, it will be a store bought one!

This is a picture of Dave and Claire kayaking on Black River Pond in Cherry Plain State Park. This park is about 40 minutes east of us. Some good friends of ours whom we met years ago in our former church joined us for a picnic and day at the lake on Labor Day. It was a beautiful way to end the summer.

Claire braved the cold temps of the water to have one last day of swimming. She is a fish. She had fun swimming with her friend Annalise. I thought I had captured Annalise in this photo but I don't see her......Claire really liked playing in the water with this friend whom we don't see too much of very often. Once they got over their "shy-ness" with each other, they were off happily playing, swimming and digging in the sand together. Claire is hoping to do it again next summer!

This is part of the sandcastle that Courtney and her teen friend, Noelle, created together. I believe Noelle's younger brother, Joel, also helped on this project. Pretty creative, hmm? Notice the gated doorway.

There is Joel to the left of the picture and Noelle in the kayak that is roped with Dave's. Noelle had never been kayaking so Dave thought it wise to have hers roped with his. It is how we taught our own daughters to paddle. I think Noelle had fun doing this.

I love this picture. My husband Dave is the guy in the Red Sox hat on the left. Our friends Lyndsey and his wife Karen, and their youngest child, Bethann, are at the other end of all the beach stuff. I don't know who the random people are in the background. I like this picture because it shows old friends chatting, relaxing and enjoying time in God's great outdoors. Although we no longer attend the same church, we are still friends, with Christ as our unifying bond. When you have a brother and/or sister in Christ, getting together can be so awesome. It was a great day of catching up, relaxing, and sharing what God has been doing in the 2 families. A great way to end the summer.
AND....great pictures to gaze at when the temps are falling and the days are getting grey. I love to just browse through summer pics and think back to the fun and think ahead to the next summer. Hopefully, it will include more days of getting together with friends!