goodbye summer.

while anne dealt with some family stuff, and rested up for a hectic work week ahead, bug and i had an absolutely splendid end-of the-summer road trip to CA. we got to see many of my favorite people, and it was totally rejuvinating. we told appalling stories of our younger years, ate a lot of good food and fancy ice cream, had a pool party/barbeque, went to the zoo, the beach, a whimsical fairyland, and generally had a lot of good time together. notably, thanks to bff babysitters, i also had some time to talk uninterruptedly with my buddies, and have a couple of separate adventures with them. notably, my child willingly agreed to stay with folks she hasn't seen since she was 2. it was beautiful.

i have to say, i  find it a bit anxiety provoking to bring my kid with me to visit people who don't have kids. i tend to feel like we're a big nuisance for a number of reasons. additionally, adah has some strange communication techniques, like randomly screaming at people, or growling at them like she's a feral cat when people try and speak to her. however, it was really striking to witness how comfortable my curmedgeon was with my friends. i expected she wouldn't speak to them for four days or so, but by day two, she was holding alicia and michelle's hands, taking some risks on the monkey bars with laura, and fluttering with her through the forest like a pair of pretty butterflies. she was actually conversing with people with words instead of meow's! can i just say how awesome my friends are? and how great my kid is?

this is a picture of her having just arrived at erica and dana's house. totally relaxed! let's keep this one for the record since normally she clings to me in any new environment (even if she's been there many times before). after dinner we all played "BOO!" a game in which we tried to scare the hiccups out of each other. uncle dana even jumped off a roof for effect, and michelle came running out of the house with a paper bag on her head. it's no wonder she had a great time.
 
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but now it's sunday, and time for the Sunday Night Anxiety Attack to resume. back to work tomorrow! an early IEP meeting before the school year officially begins, and lots of curriculum reorganizing to do. hoping for a great year...