It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood

There's a gentle breeze that causes the leaves to dance overhead. It's pleasant sitting here in the shade, watching the people pass by. There are kids dressed in leotards and tae kwon do uniforms that skip blithely across the street. There are quieter ones toting books to the tutoring center or hauling guitar cases as big as themselves up the stairs to the music place while someone bangs out a complicated rhythm on a drum set that can be heard through the open window. Women carry yoga mats or cupcakes and sometimes both. Friends laugh sitting around the many tables set outside of the various cafes. Whether you're in the mood for tapas and martinis or a British pub, you can find it here. I love this little neighborhood marketplace. It's an island of peace and refreshment in my otherwise busy days. School is finally, officially over for the year. Today I picked up Kate from her last day of middle school. The experiment that was university-model private school was a resounding success. She had a full and fantastic year where she wove herself seamlessly into school life with its friends and sports and academics and clubs and events. She loved it and is a little sad that she won't have her friends and her schedule for a couple of months. When she goes back, she'll be a high schooler, but thankfully at her little school there's not much difference between middle school and high school. On their class days, there's only 7th through 12th grade on campus and they all just hang out together during breaks. In fact, we loved our little school so much that Lydia is starting 4th grade there next fall on Tuesdays and Thursdays. She also had a good year, but she needs to branch out a bit from me. She's still highly attached and I think it will help her to have a little more independence. We're spending the summer catching her up to the math program they use, but she's so excited to go to school that she's already got a good start on her summer reading and math packet. Tomorrow starts our official summer and we're kicking it off with a quick trip to Great Wolf Lodge with friends, then camping for the weekend, then dance and volleyball camp and China Camp and Texas and training for school. We'll fill in the chinks with bowling and Carowinds and before you know it, school will start again. In the meantime, I'll sieze the occasional moment to come sit in this little marketplace and find some peace.