After a three-week hiatus, I am back to blogging! I’m sure the three people who read my blog each week and look forward to my insightful words will be happy to know I am back at it again.
The last few weeks have been packed full of exciting adventures for our entire family. Our lives are always busy, but this has been over the top, even for me. My father-in-law turned 80, and we had a fantastic family celebration with all 15 family members in beautiful New York City.
When the celebration was over, we headed home for a quick visit with my husband’s Italian college roommate who was dropping off his daughter at Hope College. Many of you probably know about Hope College and the picturesque town of Holland, MI, where the school is located. As a graduate of Hope, I’ve always known that this school is a gem, and our Italian friend just informed us that Hope made the list of colleges with great building structures. It sure has changed and grown in the 30 years since I graduated!
After spending some quality time with our friend, we headed back out east to take our oldest son back to college for his senior year. Yes, he’s almost done!
When we finished dropping off son #1, we made a quick, whirlwind trip to the Boston area to watch our middle son play hockey at a team camp to start off his school year. We were able to watch a showcase of games plus some tournament play, and our son’s team won the tournament! Not a bad way to begin his hockey season. Of course, this is a new experience for our son as he adjusts to playing hockey with a few of his future school teammates and some other boys who attend prep schools in New England. He isn’t used to being the “Michigan” kid, but I’m sure he will be just fine. We said our goodbyes and headed back to Grand Haven as our youngest child already begun his school year.
Fortunately, son #3 is very easy going and is just happy to socialize with his friends. He was also very excited to check out the new football stadium at his high school this year. In all the years of the school’s existence, they have never had a home field advantage. That changed this year as they unveiled the new field and earned two wins to start the football season!
Now that all three boys are settled in their routines, it’s time for us to embrace our new normal. I’m already liking the size of the laundry pile for just the three of us left in our house. So many others I know are experiencing similar changes in their households as well—sending kids off to college and beginning a new school year for the younger ones. They are trying to find their new normal too.
For me, it’s nice to know my kids are spreading their wings and meeting others from all over. And, now it’s time for me to get back to my blueberry gig and start spreading the blueberry goodness everywhere!
Good luck to everyone during the 2016-17 school year!
