I cannot believe it's September and that my boys are back in school. While we did a lot this summer, I still find myself questioning where the summer went! Last week we spent a lovely week on the Outer Banks. You can read my blog about what I read here. Please note that there are two blogs on this same page. The first one has my reflections on two books that were written by 9/11 widows. Scroll down for the vacation reading one, or read both at the same time!

Is the end of summer getting you down? Here at Kidsreads.com, the end of summer is definitely a little sad for us --- no more long weekends spent reading outside, eating ice cream as fast as you can before it melts, going to movies to escape the heat and just hanging out and relaxing with friends. Luckily we've made this Kidreads.com update extra special, with new series features and updates to your old favorites, contests, reviews, roundups and sneak peaks at what to look for on Kidsreads.com this fall with a big update to our Coming Soon section. 

Are you racing around getting your kids ready or acclimated to school? I know that feeling so well. I have the Staples shopping list in one hand, the paperwork from school in another and then I also am juggling the odd hours of orientation next week to get back into the swing of things. And when did my younger son outgrow his shoes? They seemed to fit ALL summer!

I should be packing. My suitcase, known as "the large black one," is the one that needs to go into the trunk first when we go on vacation. Since I NEVER am ready on time I truly think that the trunk organization scheme should be re-thought so mine is placed in LAST, but these are the moments that family vacations are born from. I still am trying to figure out how to sneak in the large box of books that I have been pulling together these past weeks. It's always the heaviest thing in the trunk and there is great moaning about carrying it into the beach house once we get to North Carolina!

Does the end of summer, and the arrival of the three big S's --- September, school and stress --- have you down? (Not to mention the return of my own personal pet peeve --- the alarm clock set for 6AM!) We know some of you are back into the school routine already and others head there these next few weeks.