a great summer!

And so it seems... summer is over. The weather here has been beautiful and warm during the day, but the temperatures are laced with that autumn chill that gets heavier and colder at night (brrrr). We made it out to Gatineau Park yesterday, and it was beautiful. We forgot the camera (oops), but the colours and views were spectacular! We did a short walk up and around King Mountain (or King Hill?), which afforded some amazing views into the Ottawa Valley - and then made for Meech Lake, where Steve looked for lunkers and I read my book. The park and the proximity of lake and woods and nature is one of the things that I'm loving about living in Gatineau. I went for a run yesterday morning on one of the many bike/pedestrian trails, and after about 20 minutes was in a shady forest - no more city! How great is that? I'm excited to learn about all of the trails and paths, to get to know the park a little bit - and the city. Next summer... we are a tight time leash here, and our departure for Japan is coming up quickly. Anyways, so I thought I'd do a recap of the summer, and list some of the highlights... here goes...

1. The wedding! Marrying Steve was the best part of the summer - and a close runner-up was the entire event; having everyone there, all of our friends and family (and for multiple days!) was really the best. We are so lucky to have such great people in our lives! (cheeeeeeeeeese!)

2. New York and Boston with Jen - we had the best time! road tripping and tourist-ing, exploring new cities and meeting people... it was all so so soooo fun. Yay.

3. Traveling - okay, maybe the traveling part wasn't the highlight, but the traveling to and with people was: seeing Claire and Chris and Kim and Jesse in Calgary, Bill and Barb in Seattle, hanging with Jo and Barb and Sharms and Griff (long live Grosbergen!) in Kelowna, and Dan and Milka in Toronto, seeing Joyce and Zella and Duncan in Ottawa, Helen in Gananoque and Hugh and Michelle in B-ville, seeing and spending time with my parents and sisters in the West and with Steve's family in the East...

4. Complete relaxation in Lake Louise - our honeymoon! It was amazing... luxe room, luxe service and two full do-nothing days with my hubs... perfection!

There are more, but the main ones are here - the people, the time, the trips... what an incredible summer!!!