I picked Hazel up last night around nine fifteen in front of her middle school. Her fifth grade class had an outdoor adventure field trip up in Wisconsin.
She was dragging her feet when she walked from the bus over to Betty the Green Blazer. Her eyes were heavy with exhaustion, but her face smiled brightly.
Her school is about five miles from my house and that entire trip was filled with exciting stories and instant memories. From zip lines, to hiking, to s’mores by the campfire .
I learned that bus drivers that wear ties mean that it’s a fancy bus. That poor bus driver had to listen to a flurry of ten year old girls singing Taylor Swift songs the entire way home.
In her elation I heard a different voice coming from my daughter. A confident voice, a more grown up voice. Hazel was articulating the whole way back to Riverside with a new strength. The experience she brought home was an immediate change that I was lucky to get to see.
I got Hazel home and she was showered and asleep down the middle of my bed within twenty minutes. Friday was the longest and busiest day my baby girl has probably seen.
I grabbed a pillow and headed to the couch. I get to hear all this excitement again this morning when she tells Fritz and George. Fritz will listen, George won’t care. I love these weekends when I have all three Shepkids.
I jotted down the first sunset before seven o’clock on today’s Chalkboard. There won’t be a sunset after seven until Saint Patrick’s Day next year. I think it’s time to pick up some mums for the balcony.
We have World Cup Rugby, college football and Oktoberfest's to visit today. It’s supposed to be an overcast day in Chicagoland.
Just cause I couldn’t put a sun up on the board doesn’t make today sad. Go put some gusto into the world and treat yourself to an indulgence. You deserve it!
