Off to Middle School!

MIDDLE SCHOOL!!! How did that happen?

Our newly-minted sixth grader had her first wholly self-sufficient first day of school today. Got up, got herself breakfast, got herself all ready, packed her bag...

And headed out the door singing "Hakuna Matata," which I thought a positive sign.

Everyone we know raves about the Wayland Middle School, and so far we can see why. It seems like a fantastic environment.

Syl's "siblings" seemed to know something was afoot this morning. They stuck close by her.

Try not to blink, kids...

One small downer is that rather than a five minute walk to school, Syl now has a loooong bus ride to the other side of town. But she was excited to try the bus for the first time in Wayland!

Growing up... but still our peanut.

Winding down the summer

It is hard to believe the summer is already almost over... though with the epic summer we had, perhaps it is unsurprising, this time, that it seemed to pass so quickly.

Syl and I have taken to riding bikes once a day, weather permitting. Sometimes the added incentive of a stop at Dairy Joy helps get her moving...

And of course no summer would be complete without our annual pilgrimage to C&L Frosty for an obscene number of grilled cheese sandwiches.

We also took advantage of a nice day last week to visit Kimball Farms, along with Syl's friend, Meredith, a nice kid who lives just down the street.

Japan, according to Instagram

So while we were in Japan, I was religious about every night posting a "story" to Instagram, with highlights of the day. Turns out, Instagram has a feature that allows one to download a compilation of those stories. I knit them together, added some J-Pop music by Shonen Knife, and I have a pretty good, quirky travelogue from our epic trip! Hope you enjoy!

The rest of the visit

Back in Wayland, we belatedly celebrated Aunt Mary's 90th birthday. Does this woman look ninety to anyone!!??

Games of Monopoly were played...

Sox were watched...

And one more celebration was had.

We capped the visit with a trip to Gramp's stomping grounds in Holliston, and a drop-by to his old plant, where his buddy, Moe, is still holding down the fort.

Plymouth for a milestone

What better place to celebrate a mileSTONE like Grammy and Grampy Haley's 50th than the site of Plymouth ROCK (see what I did there)?!