Settling back into home

Well it's been a whirlwind summer, and it's finally done. Ok, technically it may still be summer, but Byron started back up at school last week, so it's fall to us. Byron traveled almost every week for his internship, and Leo and I took several long trips (most recently to Florida to see my dad in Miami then a week of family vacay in Naples).
Leo was mostly fabulous with all the travel - in fact on our return trip from Florida, Byron and I were on separate flights (Byron direct, me with a connection) so Leo traveled home with Dada, and did splendidly. I thoroughly enjoyed sticking my nose into a book with zero interruptions on my flight!
Our Florida trip was great - Leo got to spend a whole week with Grandpa & Elisa, lapping up the Miami beach scene - and as per usual, picking up a few more adoring grandmothers along the way. That kid is a grandma magnet. Though he did seem a little confused when they all wanted to speak Spanish to him.
Somewhere along the way, Leo somehow developed a fascination with ceiling fans (there are alot of them in Florida, no surprise). He now likes to adamantly point at them (repeatedly) until you say the word fan. And, in the last week, he has started to do the same thing with light fixtures. Future contractor? Who knows.
Leo has definitely come to appreciate the beach much better than the last time we were in Florida (when he cried as we got even close to the water) and now giggle maniacally when you first walk him up to the waves. In fact if we didn't hold him back, he would happily run face first into the ocean until it covers him. He also discovered the joy of chasing the birds on the beach - he can't fun fast enough to catch them, or fast enough to make them fly away, so he just runs after them, laughing like a madman, as they walk as fast as they can in the opposite direction. It's pretty freaking cute.
We also got to see my high school best bud Corinne when we were down south - she and her hubs are just moving to Miami so she drove out to Naples for the day, then we stayed with them the night before we flew home. Leo was all over her right away - and he was so excited by her dogs that he managed to actually scare them off a bit. 25 pounds of squealing toddler is enough to scare off two dogs, no matter how big they are.
All in all, it was really great to get around this summer and see everyone, but it's practically delicious to be back home. We're working on transitioning Leo to a one-nap-a-day schedule, and looking forward to playgroups with all the other student families. And oh yeah, Notre Dame football. :)
I'll have more of our summer's picture to share in about a week - the charging cable for my laptop died and I can't get to the pictures I had already downloaded on there until the replacement arrives. Here are some that were still on my camera.