August

We had a busy and productive month of August, including healing for Bob's hand! We started out on the 1st with a wild and fun day of Erin and friends going to Wrightsville Beach. I ended up driving her and her friend Marley where we met up with 8 other friends for the day. The wild part of it was that there was absolutely zero parking to be had. Dawn and I circled the island for awhile, went off the island to Harris Teeter for lunch, then back where we ended up parking at a restaurant and sat there for 4 hours.

 Elena's parents had a similar experience, but we enjoyed catching up with them as well. Somehow, one of the girls who drove found parking fairly easily, but another one looked for a spot for 1-2 hours. Anyway, the weather was good and they had a great time! 

Anna was Bob's nurse/assistant for most of the day until she went to work. Monday, Erin gave tours to the new teachers at Gibbons as a part of her new role as Admissions Ambassador Cohort Leader. She is taking her leadership role seriously and is enjoying getting her group up and running! Anna spent a few morning babysitting her friends the Lemons that week, watched Luna the cat for 4 days, and had a few work shifts at FRESH. I helped at CPO twice that week, and Erin had piano and some work. Bob and I had a nice dinner at Osha in Holly Springs for our 21st anniversary on the 6th. 

We also enjoyed catching up with our friend Praveen over breakfast on Friday morning. 

Erin spent 3 days at a Kairos senior retreat from the 5th to the 8th, where she really enjoyed getting a break from daily life, connecting with some fellow seniors, and reflecting. She had a wonderful experience! While she was away, we had the forbidden breakfast for dinner.

We tried to go to Joe's football jamboree in Cary on Saturday evening, but it got canceled due to weather and moved to Monday the 10th. So, we returned for the make-up on Monday and had a great time watching Gibbons beat Millbrook (who was a #1 seed)! Erin also got a haircut earlier that day, and both kids had a work shift. Anna went to the eye doctor on the 11th where she had a slight change in one eye, got new contacts and glasses, and is good to go for another year. Bob had his 2-week surgical follow-up that afternoon, where they took more x-rays and removed his stitches. Everything looked good, so the plan is to hopefully get the 3 pins in his pointer finger out on the 31st. He also upgraded to a bottom-only plastic molded splint, which is much lighter than what he had before, but is less comfortable because it requires his fingers to be more extended than what he had before. The OT also gave him some exercises to do, and everything is going well so far. 

It was Anna's turn for a hair appointment on the 12th, and then she met up with her friend Juliet. She then had her Junior Welcome Day on Thursday the 13th where she got to meet her teachers briefly and had mass with the entire junior class. Meanwhile, Erin went to a fun senior party at her friend Lea's house, where they painted jeans, memory boxes, and their cars! She had a blast! 

Friday was the big Senior Sunrise and Welcome Day, after which Erin went to an impromptu double birthday party for two friends at a park nearby. Anna worked in the afternoon and then had a fun evening with Joe's family watching another jamboree, this time in Wake Forest. Bob and I worked together to rotate tires and change oil on the Accord and the Rav4, which I found to be quite a workout, especially in the heat! Both kids worked both days over the weekend, and Bob and I had a nice dinner with Liz and David on Sunday evening.

Both kids helped at Freshman Welcome Day bright and early on Monday the 17th; it's a really fun tradition where hundreds of older students cheer for the freshmen as they arrive at school for their first day. They had their first actual day on Tuesday with everyone there. 

I went to CPO and got my hair cut. Anna had another babysitting job for the Lemons that evening. Both kids worked after school on the 19th. The first home football game scheduled for the 21st was moved to 1pm on Saturday due to rain, so Joe came to our house instead. 

The 22nd was very busy, starting out with both kids taking the SAT. They had some compatibility issues with their school computers and the site Wi-Fi which didn't happen to Erin last year, but the site (Fuquay-Varina High School) was so nice to find them some loaner computers to use for the exam. Other Gibbons students at different sites had to go home and reschedule. While they were doing that, I caught up with my friend Denise at a coffee shop. Then, we all went to the Gibbons football game, which was quite humid, but they won easily. After THAT, Anna went straight to shadow our friend/fellow StMM & Gibbons mom Dr. Griffin, who works at the WakeMed Children's ED. Anna saw a lot over the 4 hours that she was there! She doesn't see the ED in her career path, but she was glad to be able to see and learn a lot that evening.

Anna and Joe had a fun afternoon on Sunday, going to the pool and then out to dinner and ice cream. Bob and I went to dinner at a different place at the same time while poor Erin was working. I had fun at book club on Monday evening, and the rest of the week was pretty much routine, trying to get back in the routine of school. The kids are doing a good job of sorting out the driving schedule so far and being fair about it. They had an all-school mass on Thursday the 27th with the bishop presiding! Both worked a couple of evenings, and both had club meetings. We are back at it! 

Saturday was the long-awaited and much-hyped Keep Pounding Classic football invitational in Charlotte. Gibbons was playing in the 8pm game, and we (minus Erin, who had to work a lot this week) went! We stopped at Grandma and Grandpa's on the way and admired their beautiful new painted interior, had a yummy Mexican lunch, enjoyed some cousin time, and took Ansley to the city! We got some pizza at Mellow Mushroom and walked over to the stadium after. It was a really fun experience seeing the team on the NFL field, though the game itself did not go our way. It was a blast! 

We rolled back in to town at 1:30am and spent Sunday working, going to church, and getting ready for the week. Monday, Bob went to the orthopedic doctor and got his pins removed, as well as started his next round of occupational therapy, twice weekly visits and a daily exercise regimen. He's getting there! He needs to keep the brace for at least the next 3 weeks until he sees the surgeon again. Everything is healing up well. 

So, it was a wild month, but all went well! We are looking forward to fall fun, homecoming, Erin's birthday, lots of football, and more in the months ahead!