High School lake party kickoff

After our trip to the middle school pool party, the boys and I headed to the Corns' lake house for the high school kickoff event.

P jumped into the water and went swimming right away. C eventually warmed up to the idea of cool lake water, but not until he had been at the lake for about an hour.


P also tried his hand at tubing, and he really enjoyed it. His original plan was to ride with Mommy or Daddy, but at the last minute he asked if Chelsea could take him instead. She was willing, and she was very paitent with him. P can't wait to go tubing again!


P and C hopped right into this group photo. Sometimes I think they forget they aren't "big kids" themselves! This group was happy to welcome them (they actually invited the boys to be in their picture), and shortly after the photo op it was time for us to head home. After a day at the pool and the lake, everyone in our family slept very well!

Middle School pool party kickoff

Youth Group is one of Daddy A's main responsibilities at church, and one of the perks for our PKs is that they often get to tag along on special events for the "big kids". We try not to abuse the privilege, and I want to say that our middle schoolers and our high schoolers are very patient with P and C and are great role models for our boys.

We did stop in at the kickoff events for the new school year. Our first stop was at the Davis house for the middle school pool party. P was a HUGE fan of the waterslide!



As you can see, he didn't really need anyone at the bottom of the slide. After his first couple of trips down the slide, he was swimming to the ladder and climbing out of the pool unassisted. I guess those swim lessons this summer are paying off!

While P was climbing and sliding (and climbing and sliding and climbing and sliding and climbing and sliding...), C was hanging out poolside and playing a little basketball.

And what was I doing? Well, I stopped counting trips to the bathroom after ten (gotta love potty training!) and hung out with my boys, the middle schoolers, and even fit in some adult conversations with some of the other parents. It was an enjoyable afternoon!

Let's Celebrate!

For the past few years, our Presbytery has held a Christian Education event called "Let's Celebrate!" It is in August and our church hosts the event. This is the first year I've attended. In all honesty, I probably would have missed it this year to take P to his first dance class of the year, except that I've joined our church's liturgical dance group and we helped with one of the morning workshops. I'm really glad that we are blessed with good friends who can help out with our kids' special activities and that it worked out for me to go, because I had a great time!

Can you tell that I'm the oldest dancer? And by "the oldest", I mean by a lot... but I'm lucky that none of these ladies mind!

Grandma Hen and Granddaddy Rooster visit

We had a blast with Grandma Hen and Granddaddy Rooster when they visited mid-August. We always have a great time when family visits, and each visit has some special highlights.

This visit we celebrated my birthday at one of my favorite restuarants. Granddaddy found a cicada outside and P and C each took a turn holding the bug before we released it outside. C particularly enjoyed that activity.


We stopped at Toys R Us and P finally decided what to buy with the gift card he got for his birthday. He chose a kit that had the parts for a wooden train. After gluing the pieces together, you could decorate the train with paint and stickers. He loved building and decorating his train!

The boys and I also went to the Science Center with Grandma Hen one afternoon, and we went to see The Smurfs in the "fee-uh-ter" as a special treat. Of course, time with family is the most special treat of all!

Dollywood!

My birthday fell on the last day of Challenger Camp and VBS this year, so we celebrated as a family the next day. That Saturday, we headed to Dollywood to get in one more visit with some friends before the summer was over!

P was very excited to find that he had grown enough to be "orange" on the Dollywood measuring chart, which meant that he was tall enough to ride some rollercoasters he couldn't ride earlier in the summer.

We all had a blast riding rides

and eating sweet treats.

Most of all, we enjoyed fun and fellowship with some good friends. Thanks for going with us Chelsea, and for meeting us there Lanny, Allyson, Rebecca, Jeremy, amd Derek!

Galactic Blast!

Our church had a space themed VBS this summer. It was the same week as soccer camp, which made for some long - but fun filled - days! I was down in the Bible story area for the elementary school kids, but P was on the other end of the building in the preschool area.

C stayed for the beginning of Bible School each evening, but he headed home earlier than his older preschool buddies to get a good night's sleep. I didn't get many photos, but that's because we were all busy having fun! P and C are still singing the songs they learned and talking about Galileo the Gorilla.

closing day of Challenger Camp

The final day of Challenger Soccer camp was a blast! (It was also almost a month ago, but hey, better late than never, right?) The kids taught their parents some of the games they had learned during their week at camp and there were some friendly "kids versus parents" challenges!

I couldn't let the campers get away without a group photo! Coach Rachel joined the staff and took over the coaching of P's team on Tuesday, but she was phenomenal and totally a part of the team from her first day. There was also a simple "ceremony" of sorts and each camper received an evaluation and a soccer poster. We will definitely be looking forward to this camp again next summer!