Today is the last day of the summer holidays, but it is definitely not the last day of summer. I keep telling people that summer could last another month or so yet. Wishful thinking, I know. I don’t know where all the summer days have gone. Even though we were only in China two weeks, it seemed to affect my whole summer. The weather also threw me out, it rained almost everyday through July and half of August. After the extreme heat of China the mild days here were pleasant but not the summer days we are used to.

On returning from China A12 and L14 threw themselves into studying for their music theory exams. For four weeks they spent large chunks of every day working, L14 did Grade 2 and A12 Grade 1. I think B7 found this a bit tough as he had already missed their company for two weeks only to find them always working on cadences, scales and Italian terms. They did take a break on the August long weekend, which included L14’s birthday, and we all visited our friends at their cottage in the Laurentians.

After the exams were finally over they both breathed sighs of relief and then realised there were only three weeks of holidays left. B7 and A12 went to a soccer camp run by SU at our church which they thoroughly enjoyed. Both came home each day hot, sunburnt and happy. L14 and I fitted in several games of tennis, some swimming and a little shopping. Throughout these weeks of theory and sport I steadily sorted and cleaned through many rooms of the house. I also spent hours planning for the coming school year.

As has been our custom since we came to Canada we went out for an “End of School Dinner”. We had not eaten out together since I was diagnosed with celiac disease so we decided to try one of the restaurants recommended by the Ottawa Celiace Association. It was Indian and the food was delicious. We all chose something to share and I was able to eat just about everything. I had prepared certificates for the children as I have in past years. The awards can be for excellent results, considerable improvement or consistent effort. I also had movie gift certificates for them each this year and they bought a cd for Andrew and I. As in past years it was a very enjoyable night.

We returned to our friends’ cottage for a week of swimming, kayaking, card games and more school planning (the mums of course, not the kids!) It was very relaxing, as it always is; the days were sunny and warm, the nights crisp and the company refreshing. Both families returned to celebrate H’s birthday, which was a fancy dress party. L14 made alterations to a “Queen Guinevere” dress I had made years ago and turned it into one of the Princess Bride’s costumes. A12 created an Arabian nights style costume to be Aravis from “The Horse and His Boy”. (I’ll try and post a photo tomorrow)

This past week has disappeared as I have tried to get the house to rights, attended several planning meetings and worked on details for the upcoming Stellae Boreales retreat. Tomorrow we begin a new year and according the levels here in Canada we have a highschooler, a junior highschooler and an elementary school student. I think everyone is looking forward to the year’s challenges, the first one being getting out of bed at a reasonable time tomorrow morning!