A look back at August

Summer is over.

It is Labor Day evening, just a few hours before bed. We are home from the shore with backpacks packed and lunches made, supplies labeled and alarm clocks set for an hour we haven't seen in a few months (three, to be exact), and our mood is mixed.

We are happy (a new year is beginning) and sad (summer is over); excited (oldest in the school) and nervous (college applications looming).

Mother Nature seems to sense our mood, as the day was a mixture of rain, storms and sun.

We spent the day getting ready: shopping for last-minute supplies; packing school bags, checking schedules, doing laundry, and trying to enjoy every last minute of summer.

My goal: gather my August Breakpictures together into a collage. (Easier said than done!)

But I have succeeded. (Okay, true confession: my daughter did it. I'm not that tech savvy yet. But I'm trying).

Here it is:

And, as sad as I am that summer is ending and school and Fall are about to begin, I can't help but smile as I look back at the past month.

I remember the day I sat on the front porch reading, and captured my midday experience.

I laugh at the memory of my daughter and I trying to find a seagull who would stand still long enough for me to snap a picture.

And I smile at the largest photo of my youngest daughter, smiling herself, about to enjoy her favorite donut during our breakfast together.

I so enjoyed participating in The August Break and would encourage everyone to do their own "Break" at some point in the near future. Not only did it make me slow down and capture my days in photographs, but it gives me a wonderful collage of memories that I will have to look back at (especially in February, when the weather, and my mood, are often cold and dreary.)

Wishing everyone a safe, healthy and successful school year!