Transition is always difficult, but none more so than the transition from summer vacation to the start of school. Indeed, this autumnal change over was no cakewalk for our family given the exciting summer we experienced. A brand new baby joined our family! With the new little dude around Walker and Ella’s end of summer adjustment wasn’t solely an earlier wake up and go to bed time, but more importantly learning to share Mom and Dad’s time with their new little brother.

Thanks to the lazy summer schedule, Mom and I were able to spend quite a bit of one on one time with each of the older siblings in between diaper changes and colic soothing. In fact, an entire evening each week was dedicated to pursuing an activity of their choosing. Walker and I played lots of putt-putt, pitched washers and visited costume stores, while Ella’s sole request was to grab a Churro at Costco and then feed the ducks at the park.

But now that school has begun, our time is tight. The lazy exploits of summer seem like a distant memory. The long days at the pool, vacations to interesting places and stay up late movie watching/ice cream parties, have given way to homework, soccer practice and early bedtimes. Even though we try to take several interesting family outings during the school year, like a quick muddy trip to the Austin City Limits Music fest, most of our time together as a family is spent at practices, carpool and around the dinner table. My question is, given this frantic pace will we remember any of the details of these hectic, yet precious years? We won.