August!

August is over!  We are officially back into the school routine!  Everyone is happy about it, for the most part.  We had a good first week of the month doing odds and ends, including Anna helping with a kindergarten event at school on Thursday.  She has really been enjoying little kids lately and is trying to get her babysitting business going.  We girls finally paid a visit to the YMCA pool and then Bob and I had a yummy (17th) anniversary dinner at Sitti in downtown Raleigh on Saturday the 6th.  

Sunday, Erin and I helped with the new family orientation at school and got to meet some new people, though not many in 8th grade, while Anna hit the pool with Sarah's family.

Erin enjoyed a workout session on Monday the 8th with her teen group while Anna and I did some damage at Barnes and Noble.  Anna went to a volleyball open gym at school on Tuesday, and I was back at school on Thursday helping with a teacher breakfast.  So much for quitting the PSO, but I am slowly working on getting away from it!

We had a really fun visit with Grandma A. Friday-Sunday that week, including a wonderful day on the boat on Saturday and the back-to-school mass and picnic on Sunday!  Erin's friends also came over on Friday, so we had a super fun little party over here!  

The 15th-17th were the last few days of summer for the kids, along with final preparations for the school year.  Erin went to her last teen group for the summer at the indoor mini golf ParTee Shack.  We are really proud of her for doing this all summer, not knowing anyone, and getting outside of her comfort zone.  Anna had another volleyball open gym on Tuesday, and I was back at school on Wednesday to set up and take down a lunch for the teachers.  

Thursday was the first day of school, and it was hot but went well.  The kids seem to be fairly pleased with most of their teachers and classes.  Anna was happy to have the same exact schedule as Sarah, and while Erin is not in any classes with her friends, she's hanging in there by seeing them at lunch and recess.  They've been helping one teacher organize books in her classroom during recess.  We also had Anna's new bedroom and bathroom painted, along with her old bedroom and some trim that got stain on it from the floor project.  Erin and I stopped by the dance school's open house on Thursday evening as well.

Saturday was another nice afternoon on a boat with Laney in tow.  Anna has been making sure that we have company with us each time we go!  It's been a lot of fun!  

The following week was more settling in to school, along with a 2-day trip to New York for Bob and volleyball tryouts for Anna.  She made the school JV team, and she has been having lots of fun, especially with a year of experience under her belt.  It's a lot easier now that she knows the ropes and isn't the youngest one on the team.  They had their first game on September 1st, and her team dominated over St. Michaels!  

Erin started piano and dance this week as well.  Her piano teacher is doing "piano club" this year where she's in a group lesson with 3 high school girls at the same time.  Some parents are a little skeptical of this arrangement, but she seems to like it so far.  By some miracle, one of the girls is a senior in high school and lives in our neighborhood!  She is going to help drive Erin sometimes, which is a huge help during dinner, traffic, and volleyball time of day.  Erin is taking a contemporary ballet class (new for her) and a regular ballet class this year.  So far, all are going great!  The hot tub inspection was finally completed on the 26th, so Bob promptly hung the ceiling fan above it the next day.  Now we can say that the porch is finally finished!  Anna also made Finley a cake on Friday for National Dog Day.

Saturday the 27th, we met Olivia's family on the lake.  We had a little swimming party and did some quick tubing after dinner.  That was lots of fun!  

Sunday we met Jimmy and Danny and family at the ParTee Shack (we had a trend this summer of copying outings that Erin did with her teen group, partly because a certain sister got pretty jealous).  It was a lot of fun!  Then it was back to the grind, including back to school night and then book club for me on Monday.  

It was a great month, and we are all really happy to be basically back to normal from a covid standpoint.  School looks normal again, kids are eating lunch in the cafeteria, parents are allowed back into the school, and everyone seems so much more happy and relaxed.  Thank goodness!