Over the summer many of our informal parenting groups dwindled. Busy schedules meant that it usually took either a birthday or a farewell party to get everyone together. As the school year starts up again and summer comes to a close, it has been great to reunite and hear about what everyone has been up to.

For some, structured multi-week classes and summer camps filled up the week. For others (like us), preparations for kid #2 were underway. And for the more adventurous families, trips all over the world soaked up the summer. Gone are the days when we were all new moms searching for kid-friendly activities to occupy our time! Now our summer days are easily filled.

Our family enjoyed taking advantage of the numerous summer reading programs, drop-in classes, concerts in the parks and museums. We are so lucky to live in an area with an abundance of opportunities for toddlers. And many of these programs allowed us to keep our son's last only-child summer full yet still vacation-like because they required little to no advanced commitment. I loved being able to take the summer a week at a time. When I had the energy, we drove up to San Francisco. And on days when I just needed to rest, we checked out the summer library programs or stayed at home building highways and tracks for all of the vehicles we could find.

After a busy summer apart, it's been wonderful to see my son reunite with his "longtime" friends (longtime considering their ages). Last week we met up with friends at a local park. With schools back in session, we ended up having the playground almost exclusively to ourselves. It was so much fun to watch our toddlers run around and giggle together as if they were oblivious to the growth they've experienced over the summer - now they can talk, jump, climb, hang, sing, and count like never before. Although bittersweet, watching toddler friends play together as if no time had passed by was the perfect way to celebrate the end of summer.