August

August is in the books!  It was a great month with the long-awaited beginning of school.  Before that, though, we started out with Erin's weekly volunteering at the library and a fun night of neighborhood bunco for me on the 1st, followed by a day of shopping for Anna and Bella on Friday.  We enjoyed a quick afternoon on the boat on the 3rd before a storm rolled in.  

Anna had a few friends over to swim at the pool on the 4th, and, thankfully, the weather was much better!  

We enjoyed some mini golf at the ParTee Shack with Pam, Jimmy, and Danny on the 5th.  Anna had a very busy day on the 6th, starting with her academic onboarding day at Gibbons, followed by a fun time at Annie's birthday party at Rush Hour Karting where they went go karting and played some other fun games!  Their class schedules came out that day, which involved lots of discussions with friends.  Bob and I enjoyed a very nice dinner at Sullivan's for our anniversary that evening, thanks to a gift card from our friends Tim and Gina in exchange for a Suburban loan to them!  

Erin and I were back at Gibbons on the evening of the 7th for the freshman parent gateway, where she was a group leader.  Anna had her annual eye doctor appointment on the 9th and got a clean bill of health.  That weekend was fairly quiet; we couldn't go to the lake due to high water levels from Hurricane Debby, which was not a huge event in our area, but we did have a lot of rainfall that affected rivers and the lake and closed the lake for 2 weekends.  Erin's friend Jeff came over to play board games on Saturday in lieu of our scheduled boat day.  We ladies had a fun furniture shopping outing on the 11th, gathering information for Anna's bedroom.  Erin had a meeting at school on Monday, followed by her last session of the 4-night teen group on the 12th.  She did a great job this summer, practicing some social skills.  We are proud of her!  Bob served as an usher for our friend Steve Veno's funeral that evening as well.  The 14th was back to Gibbons (warming us up for the commute with all of these trips there in early August), including Anna attending a freshman retreat and Erin having her welcome day, followed by a retreat for the Admissions Ambassadors program that she's going to be a part of this year.  We all felt a little nostalgia on the 15th when we attended the StMM school mass for the feast of the Assumption.  We ladies enjoyed our last official day of summer with a nail appointment on Friday the 16th!  

Erin had a fun time at her monthly friend hangout on the 17th, where they did an escape room and then swam at our pool.  Anna had 2 babysitting jobs the same day, both for new clients.  The morning job is now a running weekly gig, which is great for income, but less than ideal for sleeping in!  Anna, Bella, and I had a blast checking out the Right Meow Cat Cafe in Fuquay on Sunday the 18th.

Anna had her welcome day on the 19th, followed by a club expo at school.  Erin helped with the beginning of the welcome day, which is basically a huge parade where the older students get the freshmen out of their cars with the band and cheerleaders there, and give them a big welcome to Gibbons!  I went to book club that evening.  The rest of the week, the girls had their first 4 regular days of school, and they went well.  Erin participated in the optional dress-up day for all-school mass on the 20th. 

Erin had her last session at the library on the 22nd.  She did a great job working with school-age kids and supporting the adult instructor and the themed programs each week. 

 Anna did a great job learning her way around school, including a long haul from the auxiliary gym to her math class on "A" days!  

Bob, Erin, and I had a nice morning on the boat on Saturday while Anna babysat.  Otherwise, we just rested and did some house stuff that weekend.  The week of the 26th was back to school and adjusting to the new routine.  Erin had a club meeting on Monday, I got to help in the school store on Tuesday, Anna had a club meeting on Wednesday, and I participated in monthly adoration on Thursday, where Erin's theology class showed up!  Erin also had her first piano club session of the year on Tuesday, and she said that her group this year will be another great one!  This is her 9th year of taking piano lessons!  We enjoyed watching a more-stressful-than-expected Wolfpack football game on Thursday, which did end up in our favor.  The plan for Saturday is another boat morning while Anna babysits (she says it's ok for us to go without her; we finally got an afternoon time slot for the 7th), then go to 5pm mass and dinner out before Bob heads out on Sunday for the NASCAR race in Darlington!

Erin has also been working hard on her driving and is doing a great job.  She's currently got 50 of the required 60 hours, including 3 of the required 10 night hours.  

September looks like a great month ahead with fun, football, and school!