Friday Night Football

Mike and I spent the evening out last night first at Mike's company's tailgating party and then at the Panthers/Patriots pre-season game. It was a fun night out and the Patriots eeked out a win by 1 point. 

Here are a couple pictures of the tailgating and the field :-)

First Day Of Kindergarten!

(Ok sort of.) Today was Amelia's staggered entry day, which means she got to ride the bus just like a big kid and went to school for a full day of assessments, after which the kindergarten classes are determined. Tomorrow she goes in for an open house to meet her actual kindergarten teacher and classroom, and then Monday is the first real official all-the-kindergarteners-come-to-school day. 

Amelia was super excited to get on the bus, had a great day, and is waiting with eager anticipation to find out who her kindergarten teacher is. 

Here are pictures from this morning:

Officially Homeowners Again!

We closed on the house today -- after a year of renting we are officially homeowners again!!

And with true southern hospitality our mortgage broker gave us this adorable engraved cutting board :-)

I will have to find a way to decorate it with pictures and hang it on the wall, as it is far too cute to actually use as a cutting board. 

First Day Of 4th Grade!

I officially have a 4th grader! Charlie had a good first day; he already knows all the boys in his class from the neighborhood/summer camp or from school last year. When questioned about whether he knew the girls he looked scandalized and said, "No, they're *girls*, they're annoying -- I don't even know any of their names!" 

He has Ms Gordon for homeroom, math and science, and Mr Santore for English and social studies, and got off to a great start by not bringing home any of the forms I was supposed to sign. Sigh. 

Here are some pictures from this morning at the bus stop. (Amelia does not go in until Thursday, as it is a staggered start for the kindergarteners.) 

Happy Birthday, Grandma!!

Photo Shoot & S'mores On The Beach

Fun In The Sun

Today involved a bike ride, beach, pool, and multiple pina coladas!

Mini Vacation

We met Mom and Dad at the Marriott resort in Hilton Head this afternoon for one last mini vacation before school starts. It poured rain and thundered this afternoon so not exactly beach weather! But we went to dinner and then took the kids to the indoor pool and hot tub for the evening. Here are a few pictures from tonight -- hoping for better weather tomorrow!!

Cat Model

Before & After

Before & after the major cleaning and purge of half Amelia's toys, that is. 

A Fierce Game Of Tug-Of-War

The Boy Likes Roller Coasters

To soften the blow of the last day of summer camp (and the commencement of THE LAST WEEK OF SUMMER VACATION) we took the kids to Carowinds this evening. Charlie, as per usual, did all the roller coasters with Mike, and Amelia and I stuck to the kiddie rides in Planet Snoopy. (Which seriously is about all I can handle -- I break out into a cold sweat on the Snoopy balloon ride...)

More Fun With Beau

Jasper's New Buddy

While the Kaplans are away in Grand Cayman and Jasper's doggy cousin Clara is away at doggy camp our neighbor Jack is coming over at midday to take Jasper out for some fun with his Airedale, Beau. Here they are at the lake this afternoon ❤️

BC Running Club

Last week when I was out doing one of my 5:30am runs I ran into (literally) the Beverly Crest running club. "Hey--!" One of the guys called out, "why aren't you running with us?!" 

So now I am running with them, 5:30 am on Monday and Wednesday mornings. They have generally been running 5 miles but since most are going to do Thunder Road (but the half marathon, apparently I am the only one crazy enough to do the full) they are going to have to start training up, which is good because I can't just do 5 mile runs forever. 

Anyway, it was fun running with them this morning and running with a group always makes me run faster, which I suppose makes up for the fact that I dragged myself out of bed at 5:15 this morning and had run 5 miles, biked 3 miles and walked a 1/2 mile to drop the kids off at summer camp before I even arrived at work this morning...

Still Finding Snakes

Ice Cream Sunday

Marshmallow Slingshot

(Aka The Things They Make At Summer Camp)

The Big Snip

We had Jasper neutered and microchipped today and he is currently not very happy with us. Poor boy :-(

Curls

Amelia wanted curly hair this morning and since I had gotten up early to run, we had a little extra time this morning. Here is Little Miss Curly :-)

Monday, Monday

Today featured an awful lot on the "to do" list and some general chaos thrown in. We are in the midst of buying the house from Mandy and Joel and our loan is in underwriting hell -- you know, when you get calls and emails constantly about just ONE MORE THING they need? Today's "one more thing" included copies of our social security cards, another months' statement from our financial planner, the most recent mortgage statement from Mandy and Joel, an explanation of items that came up on our credit report, etc etc. 

Added to the mix today: my bike, which I just got back yesterday from the bike shop, basically decided to come apart on me as I was riding it, the seat coming completely loose. While trying to (unsuccessfully) tighten it Jasper got into the kitchen junk drawer (which was left open because we were looking for Allen wrenches) and strewed (is that a word? It should be) and chewed the contents all over the floor. 

Accomplished today despite the chaos: A 3 mile run, Jasper scheduled to be neutered Friday morning, email sent regarding boarding Jasper while we're back in Hilton Head later this month, tree guy scheduled to give us an estimate on Wednesday about the tree branch that needs to come down in our yard (it was struck by lightening), Charlie signed up for flag football for the fall and eyebrows waxed. Oh and I went to work somewhere in there too ;-)

Weekend Recap

We had a fairly low key weekend. Friday night I got out to do some shopping with Heather and then had a few drinks with Mandy and Joel and Joel's college roommate who was visiting for the day. 

On Saturday we grocery shopped and went to lunch and then in the evening I took the kids over to a play date with Charlie's friend Luke and his younger brother. They live in the apartment complex around the corner so we hung out at their pool, ordered pizza and had a fun evening. 

Today we took the kids to the JCC pool and finally got my bike back from the bike shop -- yay!! 

This week we have the usual chaos including a Knights game that Mike and I are going to Thursday night, and my 2nd week of marathon training. 

Both kids are back at the Beverly Crest camp for the next two weeks and then *gasp* there is only one more week left of summer vacation!! Where did the summer go??