This has been a fun summer, quite full compared to last. In a few weeks, we’ll have all three kids in some sort of school at the same time for the first time. That’s fun! And it reveals something true: every person who has said “it goes fast” is correct!
We started the summer with a fun trip to Chattanooga, TN to hang out with my side of the family! We stayed in the same Airbnb which is such a wonderful amenity of modernity that you don’t have to stay in different rooms in a hotel. So, we had meals together, watched the opening games of the World Cup, went for runs, went to museums and aquariams, and had just had a great time together as a family.
From there, Shepherd and Greta went back to Jackson with G and GiGi for a week of camp grandparents. This was Shepherd’s third summer doing this and Greta’s first time. They had a blast and importantly they got to spend some time with my grandmother and grandfather and spend time at the farm in Dennis. Great memories for them I hope.
About a week after coming home, Shepherd went to camp! Still amazing to think of him going away by himself to summer camp for two weeks and even more amazing that by all accounts it went really well. Sadie and I feel very grateful for that gift and for the experience. It’s something I continue to talk to Shepherd about in reference to things that come up that are hard or he’s unsure about: “You can do this! You did camp.” That’s really wonderful anchor to have at his age.
Right after Shepherd got home from camp, Sadie went to Europe for a trip with Emily! Trip of a lifetime it was. Sadie has described it as some of the most fun she’s ever had. Backpacking hut to hut in Lichtenstein, time spent in Bavaria and Switzerland, and just lots of quality time with her sister. Very grateful for that.
Grandma and Grandpa came to stay for the month of July and were so helpful and generous and fun to have around while Sadie was gone that first week of July and we had a great month.
Then, off to Oregon for 10 days! We hadn’t been back in two years and it was good for the heart of our life to be back. After the flood of Helene, we just took 2025 to try and recover and rest. To be back in Albany with family and the usual relaxing pace of those visits was really good. We did our traditional day at the coast in Newport altogether spending some time on the beach, eating lunch at the Chowder Bowl, getting taffy, and seeing the sea lions on the dock. Then Sadie and I stayed in Newport again for two nights and just had incredible quality time with each other. It’s become a tradition for us and it’s nice to have such a familiar place to go back to over and over.
School starts on Monday for Shepherd and I’ve been running a lot heading into a big running project that’s a years-long vision to break a 2:30 marathon. So, good busy as we end the summer and roll into the fall.
On a personal note, I have felt a special and particular quality to life lately that is quite vivid. I very much feel in the “salad days” with the kids being so young and bold and wild and challenging and beautiful, and doing all of that alongside of Sadie. This is all, in some true shape, showing me something new about God and the Spirit of Life throughout out friendships, our church, our family, and the daily effort that Sadie and I put into moving and shaping our bodies through running and strength training, which may sound strange but the physical aspect is very much feeding the spiritual aspect and vice versa.
In church this past Sunday, I become sort of overwhelmed by what I can only call the Spirit during the last hymns and prayers as I took it all in and saw myself inside of the “best days of my life”, giving me, at the same time, an extreme appreciation and love for all of it and also a real sadness and its inevitable changing and slipping away as the kids grow older and life must evolve.
I love it all.
