What a summer! We've packed it full with family gatherings at the lake, here in DC, and in Richmond, and took two wonderful trips to the mountains. In early July we spent the week with Courtney's extended family in Pagosa Springs, CO, near Durango where Courtney's family vacationed during her childhood. It was a fun, chaotic week with 6 kiddos (5 of them under the age of 7) and also a very special time. We scattered some of Courtney's dad's ashes in a beautiful alpine meadow on Middle Mountain, a place that truly called him home. In early August we took a second trip to the mountains, this time to Jim's parents' cabin in Ashe County, NC. We had some fun extended family time and then a short week on our own at the cabin. We hiked, went canoeing (Sylvan's first time) and ate well. This past weekend Sylvan experienced another first - a day at the beach! After Sylvan insisted that he wasn't going to get in the ocean, we could hardly get him out once he had that first dip. Burying himself and his mom and dad in sand was pretty fun, too. In other news, it's been a summer of acquisitions. In order of enthusiasm, we've 1) bought a washer and dryer (these things really seem like they should last longer than they do...), 2) bought eye glasses for Jim (isn't he handsome!?), 3) bought a car! That's right, after 3 months of carlessness, we decided that the cost of rentals and the hassle of dealing with the car seat was not worth it. We've bought a gently used CRV which is suiting us very well, and still hope to buy an electric car down the road, so to speak. Save