It’s Memorial Day Weekend.  Do you know where you mind is?  How about your heart?

You’ve got an extra day off from work; the kids have the day off from school.  So what are you doing with this gift of time?  Tend to the garden, go to a park, have a cook-out, catch up on some chores, visit some friends, wash cars, pay bills, surf the web, go to a movie, clean the bathrooms, or what?  What are you going to do with this little holiday break, the unofficial start of summer, and why?

It’s a national holiday, and the United States will honor those who gave their lives to protect our country and to protect the ideals of freedom and liberty for all.  Who will you be remembering and honoring, so that their lives will continue to be a positive influence on your children?

Amongst all the running around, or just putting your feet up and doing nothing, take a few minutes each day this weekend to pause, reflect, and be aware of what you are thankful for.  What gifts of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness are you enjoying right now, thanks to the country that with all its flaws has provided you with these opportunities?  And give thanks to a God or Universe that, without any flaws, has seen to it that your life is just perfect as it is – whatever the circumstances, you are loved and worthy of love.

Now, with a centering prayer or reflection of gratitude like that each day this weekend, go ahead and pay attention to those thoughts as much as you can throughout the day.  Notice how lighter and happier you may feel.  Notice how your attitude about the stresses of daily life may shift, and the more important matters of the heart rise to the surface more easily.

Quietly notice what other pleasures you see around you that you are thankful for.  Let this awareness guide you in feeling more free and giving to others – especially with your children.

With this heightened awareness of what you are grateful for, what and whom you wish to remember this weekend, you will more easily honor those that came before you, and more fully pass on those gifts of love to your children, family, and friends.

Now, with that little extra oomph of gracious awareness, spoken out loud to your family or just carried as a glowing light inside you, go crank up the grill and have some fun!

I went outside yesterday morning to take our daughter to the bus and stopped dead in my tracks.  “Ahhhh.  Feel that?” I asked Hannah.  “Do you feel that?  That’s what Spring feels like!” 

It was a glorious, crisp morning with the sun coming up over the mountains spraying our lush green fields and woods with sparkling orange and yellow highlights.  Brilliant blue skies with scattered wisps of white cotton provided a carefree canopy overhead.  The air was freshly cleansed from the previous night’s thundershowers, and the sweet smell of lilacs and honeysuckle tickled our noses.

“Look around and take in this beautiful day that we’ve been given,” I encouraged my little girl, as she probably rolled her eyes behind me.  “And listen.”  We stood still, taking in the day through all our senses for just minute, and listened to two, then three, then four different song birds fill the air with their mating melodies.  Ahh, “It’s May, it’s May, the lusty month of May!” I thought, smiling to myself as the tune from a long-cherished performance of Camelot echoed in my mind.

Two frolicking squirrels chased each other across the lawn.  A family of deer grazed casually in our western field.  And bees literally buzzed about the blossoms of our walnut trees.  The cool morning air and warm glowing sunshine took turns kissing my cheeks, and I deeply inhaled the sweetness of it all.

Moments like these bring me such joy and peace.  They give me the strength to dive back in to the white-water rapids of the daily stream of life. 

I gave a brief prayer of thanks, and one of hope that little Hannah would really remember this morning.  Hoping that she would be graced with many such memories of a sweet-smelling, peaceful, and loving home that was simply there, always there, around her. 

Then off we went, back into the bustling activities of a busy family – enjoying the rest of the season’s treats.  This week has included Kevin’s high school prom and the end of his baseball season, more of Hannah’s little league games (where the pure joy of getting safely to first base can still make your day complete!), and Sarah’s return home from college final exams.  We can’t wait to visit our oldest daughter Jen and her vibrant new life in New York City next weekend.

Meanwhile, today is our son’s 17th birthday, and tonight we head to Virginia for his weekend AAU basketball tournament.  But first, we’ll cheer Hannah and her classmates on at their annual elementary school track and field day.  She’s very excited (probably far more so than during yesterday’s bird singing extravaganza), because the highlight of the day will be who gets bragging rights from each grade’s old-fashion tug-of-war contest. 

The second grade finale features Mrs. Glossner’s class (with Hannah) versus Mrs. Smith’s class.  Hannah and her girlfriends have concocted a secret plan to victory – and she’s been practicing all last night and this morning.  See, just as they begin, the girls are going to start singing Taylor Swift’s hit “You Belong With Me” while they heave-ho.  They figure the boys on the other team will be so shocked and distracted, and maybe even cover their ears, that their team will quickly pull them all over to win the day! 

Hope springs eternal, as they say.  And I hope you enjoy yours with your children.

Well, I’ve had enough.  The rats have won the race.  I give up.  It’s over.

You can’t ever do enough it seems.  You try to do the best you can, but it never feels good enough.  There’s always another item on the to do list – another 10 items, just for today.  Forget the 100 items on the master list that I’m supposed to keep for “brain dumping” to clear the mind.  Then there’s the Bucket List – those dreamy life aspirations that sound so good in a poetic or romantic moment – and make for great movies – but then just come back to haunt you – because, well, life just isn’t like the movies.  And you just can’t ever seem to get there. 

If I could just get this one thing out of the way, then I’ll be able to enjoy myself.  When the kids get into school, then I’ll have more time for those other things that I really care about.  When the kids get out of elementary school, they won’t need me as much, there won’t be so much PTA and Scoutmaster and AYSO coaching to do.  I’ll just get to sit on the sidelines of the game or in the audience of the play once in a while, then I’ll have lots more time for my other interests.  Oh, when they get out of high school, I won’t be running around to all these games and fundraisers and playing cab driver to a bunch of hormone-charged kids that want to go, go, go.  Then I’ll have time for myself.  My marriage.  My friends.

Oops. They’re gone.

My kids have grown up.  My wife and I have grown apart.  My friends have gone away.  My self is some vague stranger I once kinda liked and now don’t even know.

It’s over. I can’t continue the charade of being some super child psychologist and family coach, let alone father, husband, and friend.  It’s time to hang it up.  So, sorry gang, this will be my last article and the last “Kidstep Connections” newsletter.  There’s no energy, no fun, no point anymore.

APRIL FOOLS!  This could be my life – and at moments I’ve certainly felt some of these things.  I imagine we all have (please tell me it’s not just my imagination!).  But I can assure you, this is not what my life, personal or professional, is all about.  Thankfully, I have something much bigger that I feel a strong part of that keeps me going.  With humor and humility, and some days, even grace, I keeping on going.

The true meaning of Spring, and for some of us out there, of Easter, is that life is constantly renewing itself.  We will always have periods of cold and darkness.  Yet it will always be followed by warmth and light, if we stay open to that very possibility.

Remembering that “what you focus on, grows,” we must not allow ourselves to let small setbacks, honest mistakes, and moments of true pain blind us to our bigger truths.  Let’s not dwell on the imperfections of our lives, other than to acknowledge that they are a real part of who we are, and that’s okay.  We need not, and never can be, perfect in that artificial, superficial way our achievement-obsessed society has contrived.  And neither can our children. 

So let’s not be SO caught up in fulfilling our potential (or our children’s potential), that the quest becomes like the Myth of Sisyphus, pushing that giant rock of expectations up the hill over and over, only to despair as we watch it falter and roll back down, to begin the arduous climb once more.

Instead, let us focus on the joys and riches we – our selves, our spouses, our children, our friends, have to offer along the way.  Let’s see the true perfection and beauty of the diversity of talents, and shortcomings, that we all share. 

Parents, remember that your children are not all the same, and loving them equally does not mean they get the exact same thing from you all the time (a big source of sibling rivalry and parent angst).  Rather, let them always feel they are loved equally and fully, and that will mean they get different things from you at different times because they have different needs.

Teachers, remember that all your students are children, not robots, and so equal does not mean the same.  Fair is treating everyone with equal respect, which means doing whatever you can (and that includes accepting your own realistic limits) to guide each student in the way they can best learn and grow.

Spouses, those “opposites” in personality and style were part of the initial attraction that led you to fall head over heals.  Now, don’t let them be growing, poisonous irritants.  Keep respect in your heart, and find a way to recognize that you bring complimentary strengths to your partnership, not competitive ones.

I was guest lecturing for a Human Development class at Penn State the other day.  One of the students asked, “What is the most essential aspect to parenting?  What is the best piece of advice you would give to young parents?”  After a moment’s thought, my answer was blindingly clear to me. 

Borrowing one of my favorite quotes from Neal Donald Walsh, I said the key to good parenting is to always start with this: “WWLD – What Would Love Do?”  I’ve never met a parent who wakes up in the morning and says “I can’t wait to screw up my kid today!”  Every parent, in his or her best moment, loves their children and wants what’s best for them.  Yet the stresses or our daily lives and vulnerabilities in our personalities lead us to stray at times to be impatient or frustrated, to yell or insult or ignore.  Or to just plain miss an opportunity to nurture our children, to help them learn and grow from a life challenge. 

Yet, when we can take a deep breath, being fully conscious and present with our child, when we can mindfully remind ourselves, “What Would Love Do?”, we will invariably make the right move.  We will naturally, and whole-heartedly, give our children our best selves.  And that’s all any parent can do.

Now offering that bit of advice felt like some good Spring cleaning for my heart and soul.  The key, of course, is for me to go home and practice it with my family, in good faith, without undue pressure to be perfect.  How ‘bout you?

May we all enjoy the new warmth of the Spring sun, and what the budding blossoms are about to remind us.  Life keeps going.  Life really does keep growing, with love and abundance.  And so can we.

Happy Ground Hog Day!  Are you kidding me?  No, here is central Pennsylvania – that’s still a big deal.

One of my Penn State graduate students actually had her parents come visit from out of state to be at Gobbler’s Knob at dawn this morning to see Punxsutawney Phil’s prognostication – a longer cold winter, or a sooner spring thaw?

(Sorry, word has it, he saw his shadow again – six more weeks of winter.)

So what?  Well, one of my all-time favorite movies is Ground Hog Day.  My wife and kids and I curl up with blankets and pop corn around this time every year to watch it – which we did again on Saturday night.  Why do I love it so much, and why the heck am I writing about it now.

Well, I did another one of my favorite parenting programs last night, “Finding the Time to Enjoy Your Life and Your Kids Again!”  We spent the evening taking inventory of what’s most important in your life, and how you can find the time for it.  And it got me to thinking…

Bill Murray found one way to enlightenment in this farcical, yet philosophical, romantic flick. He was forced to live the same day over and over again until he learned his lesson – found his truth – and starting living it in earnest.

What would you do if you had only one day to live over and over again?

Maybe you’d act out at first with wild fantasies, naughty or crazy or whatever – just as Bill does.  Then you might get bored, or depressed, or desperate for a spell.  Eventually, if you’re lucky, you’ll come to realize that life doesn’t have much meaning if we’re in it just for our own gains and needs.

It means a whole lot more when it’s shared with others – when we can give, lovingly of ourselves to others, and rejoice in regular (not necessarily random!) acts of kindness – just for the joy of it.

Now, a subtle part of the movie is that Bill has to go through a cleansing period, a period of self-care and self-development, before he has strengthened skills that he can then put to good use serving others.

This is just like my prescription for less stress and more life satisfaction in the T3 Family Wellness Program.  Before you can effectively call TIME OUT to resolve conflicts with your kids (or anyone), you need to share enough positive, fun TIME IN with them to build loving relationships.  And you can’t do that, if you don’t take enough TIME OFF to re-energize yourself, first.

To produce good output – parenting or otherwise – we first need to have good, quality input to fill our souls and our minds with the beauty we want to see in our kids and in our world.

So during this mid-winter pause – for some a time of silly celebration – let us also use it for a time of brief reflection:  What would I do if I only had one day to live?  And why am I not living my life that way now?  What am I waiting for?!

No time like the present.  Take a deep breathe.  Think about what matters most to you today.  And live it. Go love someone.  Just for fun.  Ground Hog Day is as good an excuse as anything!

Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
the courage to change the things I can,
and the wisdom to know the difference.

Serenity… May I find the peace of mind to know I’ve done the best I could, and that is enough. To know that I’ve loved each of my children with all my heart, sought what was best for each with pure intentions, and made decisions with a clear mind and caring spirit.

May I accept that I cannot control them, but only guide them.  I cannot decide for them, but only with them.  May I accept who they are becoming with an open heart, open mind, and always open arms.  And may they accept me for who I am, the principles I’ve stood for, the values I’ve sought to impart – even as they shape their own destinies.

Courage… May I feel the loving grace of God within me, bringing me peace as I face the stress and strain of daily life.  And may that loving light shine through me, offering a beacon of hope to my children during their times of struggle.  After hardships, may we experience the healing touch of forgiveness, and the cleansing joy of laughter.

May I not dwell on the past with regrets, but be fully present and open to the gifts of today.  Help me to face life’s challenges head-on with honesty, integrity, and humility.   And may I find the strength to always act according to my convictions, so my children will know how to face the winds of adversity.

Wisdom… May I know when to push and when to let go.  When to be firm, and when to set them free.  May I genuinely seek first to understand, then to be understood.  May I enjoy the blessings of a well-tuned ear, an open yet discerning mind, and the ability to speak my truth both directly and compassionately.

May each of these gifts bring the blessings of respect, resilience, and rejoicing to my family – and to all the families I may meet along the way.

I remember vividly one day when I was a young boy, during catechism class when the stern, habit-headed nun asked us, “What day is Thanksgiving?” – referring to the upcoming holiday.  Hands flew up, and everybody took a guess, “November 24th,” “Next Thursday,”  “November 30th,” “the third Thursday of November – no, the fourth.”  After numerous guesses fell short of our teacher’s expectations, a little light went off in my head, and I tentatively raised my hand one more time. “Every day,” I said simply.

I can still picture the beaming smile on her face, as she replied, “Yes, indeed.  Every day is for Thanksgiving.”  And I’ve never forgotten that lesson.

Yet how do we apply it during the hustle and bustle of everyday life, when we get so busy and stressed?  How do we keep that simple truth alive and well, especially during the holiday season when our regular to-do list doubles in size with extra shopping, cooking, cleaning, and entertaining?

How do we truly experience “Joy to the World” when we’re ready to pull our hair out after hearing that song for the one millionth time, and it’s only the second week of December? Here are a few friendly reminders on how to keep the spirit of the holiday season alive and well for you and your children.

Ask yourself “Why?”  Stop and catch yourself – at the beginning of the month, the week, the day, and throughout each day. “What am I doing?  What choice am I making right now with my limited time/energy/money?   And why?  Why am I doing this?”

Remind yourself of the REASON for the SEASON.  Whatever your particular creed or beliefs – it is a time for celebrating humankind with renewed love, light, and hope.  It’s a time for being thankful for the gifts OF family and friends, not just FROM them.  When you recenter your thoughts on what is most important to you about this holiday season, then you can commit yourself to consciously putting those priorities into practice.

If you’re baking extra breads or cookies, is it a burdensome chore because you have to, you feel you should, or it’s just always been done that way?  Or are you doing it because you want to, you choose to?  Your frame of mind here goes a long way to defining how you and your children will experience this activity.

If you know your children really enjoy that tradition, and you’re looking forward to giving them that gift of love, and you love the warm, fresh smells that remind you fondly of holidays past, then go for it.  Remind yourself this is why you’re doing it, and you’ll appreciate the fun of making yummy treats as well as memories for your own kids.

Clarify expectations and accept limitations.  Know that if you make the choice for extra cookie baking, you won’t necessarily have time for all the holiday movies you were hoping to watch.  Set realistic expectations that don’t include notions of perfection.

Be clear that this is a season for giving, sharing, and celebrating LOVE with one another, not just THINGS.  And that means giving up some of our own wants to share in other’s pleasures as well.

Make a list of your top 3-5 wishes for a fun, stress-less holiday.  Have everyone in the family make their own list, with the clear understanding that you will do some of what each person wants, but not be able to do it all.  Compare wish lists and agree to choose 1 or 2 from each person’s list.  Schedule 1 or 2 time blocks each week for the month of December, when everyone agrees they’re going to do a designated family activity.  Rotate who’s turn it is, and do something from that family member’s list.

Remind yourself and your children that gifts come in many different sizes and shapes.  Play a game of mindfully appreciating and speaking about one gift that you received and one that you gave each day of the month.  Gifts may come as material things, yes, including the things we take for granted – the clothes on our back, our daily food, a cup of coffee, some fresh cut flowers for the kitchen table, a gallon of gas for the car that took us to the Christmas Concert.

Yet gifts, often the best ones, also come in the form of shared belongings, compliments, time, activity, or service.  Help your children open their eyes and ears and hearts to this reality.  Help them make conscious choices about what they are grateful for each day and willing to give of themselves each day.  Small rituals, like a morning family reflection or an evening review of “gifts received and given today” that take just 5 minutes can offer enormous rejuvenation in the middle of daily strife and stress.

If you’re really into it, have your kids write one of these reflections on paper cut-out decorations – stars or bells or whatever, colored to desire, and hang daily on a little “Gratitude and Giving” tree.  (After the holiday, you can collect these into a small box or file labeled with the year, and turn this into a rich accumulation of blessings over the years!)

With your children, decorate and fill shoe-box care packages for children in an orphanage or soldiers overseas or the elderly in a nursing home.  Write little hand-written notes about a wish you have for that anonymous person in the coming year.

Ask your children to collect 3 of their toys (in good shape and cleaned) that they’re willing to give away to other children who aren’t as fortunate as they are, and donate them to an abuse shelter or homeless shelter.  This teaches that in order to make room to receive, literally, we need to be able to give as well.

Don’t over do it.  Pick one of these things each week perhaps, and do it whole-heartedly. Enjoy the anticipatory excitement, the momentary experience, and the fond memories.  Make mindful choices about what brings you and your children the greatest joy, and become fully engaged in that activity – as exhilarating or restful as it may be.

Just give yourself to it fully, and in so doing, you’ll receive the greatest gift of all.

Gold is soaring in value to an all-time high right now.  People are nervous about their investments, whatever they may have left.  During this recession, as in other economic hard times, people flock to precious metals.  (Which I confess, strikes me as kind of absurd, but that’s another topic for another professional.)

Many families are struggling to make ends meet – and there is a growing consciousness about the true value of things.  Specifically, we are all increasing our awareness about what things we really need versus want, what things really matter, what things do we really value.

And when I work with families, or reflect on my own, it gets pretty clear pretty quickly.  The most important things in our life, of course, aren’t things at all.

Do you remember the overwhelming, trembling flood of gratitude and grace at the very moment of birth of your first child?  Or the second?  Or third?  Or fourth…?  I remember each and every one, and fill with tears involuntarily even now at the thought of those moments when the true miracle, and value, of human life was given to us.  How humbling to have a child’s life brought forth into this world, and into our hands.

How precious is this gift of life?!  Given to us to nurture and enjoy and appreciate and encourage and teach and love and let go… To pass on to the next generation of miracles, waiting in the heavens to emerge and renew life’s never ending circle.  And to think that we, too, were precious gifts to our parents, and they to their’s, and so on.

When we really stop to reflect on this gift of life, handed down continually through family after family, we can’t help but appreciate the real value of caring for our children in a way that will yield the greatest return on the greatest investment possible.

Now, for most of us, our families, like our economic fortunes, will not be without flaws.  We experience up and down times, moments of euphoria and heartache, with pain and suffering for some more than others.  Yet always, love will find a way through.  If we let it. If we open our hearts up to the reality that we are gifts of love, perfect just as we are, even with all our imperfections.  And so are our children.  And, yes, so are our parents, and our brothers and sisters and nieces and nephews and neighbors.

There is no one perfect family formula.  Yet there are ways to maximize your R.O.I. for the family you have inherited.

“My experience is what I agree to attend to.”
- William James

Find the extraordinary in the ordinary. Laugh and sing and play with your kids, your spouse, your friends, yourself.  Why not?  This is not a dress rehearsal – this is your one, precious life.  You can’t get this day back – no takeovers – so might as well enjoy it.  You do have choice – not in everything that happens to you, but most certainly in how you respond. Choose happiness.  If that feels too ambitious, choose contentment.

If you find yourself getting anxious or angry or depressed, ask yourself, “Why am I choosing to have this experience?”  And choose differently. (Or keep blaming external circumstances and be miserable.)  This isn’t about becoming delusional and denying that there are problems.  It’s about accepting reality, and making the most of it anyway.

Easier said than done?  Perhaps, at first.  But like anything else, as you practice this, your conscious choice muscles will grow.  You can choose to respond calmly to adversity rather than react violently to it.  Take a deep breath, literally, and respond with self-soothing words, actions, and relationships.  When you fall off course, which we all do, acknowledge your mistake, and step back towards center – towards a loving heart.  Joy will follow.

Start each day with a prayer or mediation about how you wish to live your life today.  End each day with a brief reflection of what you most enjoyed that day, and what you’re most thankful for.  Don’t just nod as you read this and say, nice idea.  Do it!  Get a small journal or notebook, and jot down your intentions for the day each morning, and what you’re thankful for each evening.  (Recent research shows that keeping a daily gratitude journal can be highly effective at reducing depression and increasing optimism and positive moods.)

Five minutes, once or twice a day.  Write it down.  Okay, so you don’t do it perfectly, maybe you miss some days.  No sweat.  Start again the next day.  Keep it to yourself, or share it with a partner.  The days will go by, and slowly, over time, you’ll increase your awareness of the bountiful nature of family and friends surrounding you.

And what really matters – your family’s true wealth – will keep multiplying.

What do parenting our kids, weekend backpacking trips, and launching a national coaching practice have in common?  A lot!

Hannah's first backpacking adventure begins.

This Labor Day weekend, my wife Mary and I took our youngest daughter Hannah on her first backpacking trip. Like her three older siblings, Hannah has camped with us often.  But this is the first time she’s gotten to experience what its like to be completely away from familiar comforts and travel into the great unknown with everything riding, quite literally, on your shoulders.

As we enjoyed – and endured – our weekend jaunt up and down Pennsylvania’s rocky Mid-State Trail, I found myself reflecting on the similarities between this adventure and the bigger, professional one I’m now undertaking.  I also easily recognized how the lessons we were learning on this wilderness hike were directly relevant to the challenges parents face with their kids every day.

Consider these parenting tips inspired by the gift of a walk in the woods…

1. Life is an adventure with many twists and turns.  You can’t ever know exactly where you’re going to end up, but it still makes sense to set your eyes on a goal.  Give yourself a clear direction to head. Make a conscious choice where you want to be with your family at the end of the year or the end of the day. Help your child set realistic goals that are suited for their temperament and developmental level.   Then, set out with a positive “CAN DO!” attitude, excited about getting to that next peak.

2. Along the way, the key is to know that the map is not the territory.  You will follow your map as best you can, but you need to keep looking up and around you to see the real life that is before you. Enjoy the journey, and the views, as you go – even when you may not be quite sure where you are.  Trust that a higher power is watching over you, and that you are just exactly where you need to be.

3. Keep putting one foot in front of the other.  Focus on the next step in front of you, visualizing it, taking it, completing it.  That is how we reach our goals – whether on the side of a mountain or in the middle of a test at school or getting those chores done at home.  What’s the old saying – success is 10% inspiration and 90% perspiration?  We can’t get to where we want to go if we don’t take patient and persistent action.  Keep your feet moving, and soon you’ll reach your destination.  Sit still and think about it or complain about it, and you’re not getting any closer to putting those miles behind you!

4. Realize that it takes teamwork to succeed.  We can’t make it through life completely on our own without getting bogged down by the heavy load or overwhelmed by the obstacles ahead.  Appreciate that as a family, you are inter-dependent on one another, and on a community of support all around you.  Appreciate each person’s strengths and what they can contribute to the effort. Everyone can pitch in somehow.  Also, accept each person’s limitations – your child’s, your spouse’s, your own.  Be respectful of these differences, and you’ll enjoy the journey a whole lot more.

5. Mistakes happen.  Things won’t always go according to plan.  You’ll miss a turn that you should’ve taken, lose your place, get frustrated or scared, second guess yourself, and perhaps lose your temper a bit (yes, all part of our backpacking trip!).  What to do? As I remind parents and kids every day in my coaching programs, and as I practice myself in my best moments –  ”STOP, RELAX, & THINK!”  No sense running (or hiking) around in circles. We’ve only got one choice when things go bad – we can either make them worse or better.  So try it – Stop to regain perspective, relax and calm down, then start problem-solving with a clear and level head.

6. Celebrate your successes.  Too often we check something off our list and hurry on to the next item, then the next, then add another, and so on.  We keep looking at what we have yet to accomplish, rather than appreciating what we have already done.  It feels SO good to do something you didn’t know if you could really do.  When you get through a life challenge or a daily hassle, pause to reflect on just that. Celebrate what you and your child have done.  Laugh, praise, dance, acknowledge – loudly or softly – it doesn’t matter. But always lovingly.  Celebrate, with true love and joy, the labors you have endured together.

My very best wishes to you and your family as you end the summer and begin your new school year journey.  I look forward to traveling together in the days ahead to make each trip for our kids a more successful and enjoyable one.

Cheers,

- Dr. Peter