August!

Just like that, summer is over! August started out slow and quickly picked up pace. Erin worked a LOT before school began, racking up the hours and the money! We are proud of her for handling more shifts, as well as driving herself to/from work and also managing a few shift swaps (one that she initiated, and a couple that she picked up to help other people). Anna had a marathon cat-sitting job from the 2nd to the 9th, but Bo and Meadow are fairly easy. Bob, Erin, and I enjoyed a nice morning on the lake on the 3rd. 

We prefer mornings in the summer because it's not as hot, not as crowded, and also has less risk of storms popping up. 

Anna had a couple of babysitting and dog-sitting jobs over the week of the 4th, as well as hanging out with Juliet on Tuesday and shopping with friends on Wednesday. Bob and I enjoyed a nice anniversary dinner at Caffe Luna on the 6th (they catered our wedding reception!).

I hosted neighborhood Bunco on the 7th while Bob went to a Knights anti-meeting (an exclusive group of guys boycotts the meeting and goes elsewhere at the same time). Anna and I had simultaneous hair appointments on the 8th, which worked out very well. Saturday, Bob and I were back to the lake in the morning, then Erin and I went to an open house for her piano studio before Erin headed on to work. Margaret opened a second studio to accommodate her growing number of students, and it is beautiful! Erin's lessons will be there this coming year, starting in September, with Ms. Cheryl for the first time. We enjoyed seeing the space, checking out the new pianos, and participating in fun activities. Even better, we entered the raffle and won a month of free lessons! So exciting! 

That evening, Anna babysat for the Wagerle girls, Bob met his friend Colin at a brewery, and Erin was working. Finley and I held down the fort.

Sunday the 10th was a super fun day in Concord for Grandma A.'s 70th birthday! We went to mass at St. James with the cousins, then to lunch at a Mexican place near their house, and back to Grandma and Grandpa's house for cake, presents, and visiting. It was wonderful, and we are thankful that Erin happened to have that day off of work! The girls ventured to school on Monday afternoon for a meeting for the annual Freshman Welcome Day, which now they were both helping with instead of experiencing as a freshman. Tuesday, Erin drove herself to her friends' joint birthday party while Anna had an eye doctor appointment. Anna also babysat for her buddies, the Lemons boys, 3 times this week, in addition to a couple of other times this month. Anna had Sophomore Welcome Day on the 13th and Erin had Junior Welcome Day on the 14th; both were much less exciting than Freshman Welcome Day. They had mass, a class meeting, and walked their schedules for a quick intro to each class. Friday the 15th was a holy day, and the 4 of us all went to mass that evening. Saturday morning, Bob and I went back to the lake, Erin worked, and Anna babysat. Sunday, Anna checked out Mad Splatter paint room in Apex with friends Bella and Evan, and we all went to St. Michael's evening mass after Erin got off work.

Monday the 18th, the girls went to help at Freshman Welcome Day and I went to book club that evening. Tuesday was the first official day of school for everyone. 

They have a complicated driving/parking situation this year; juniors don't usually get a parking spot on campus, but they can bypass that by sharing a spot with a friend. So, Erin and Olivia are sharing a spot that each gets to to use half the time. On their "off" days, they park at the satellite lot at Carter-Finley across the road. So far, it's going well and they're ironing out the kinks. Classes seem to be starting off strong as well! 

Anna watched cat friends Louis and Lilly for 5 days over that weekend, and Erin took the SAT on Saturday the 23rd. She worked really hard to prepare, taking a weekly class via Zoom for 10 weeks with Olivia and Vera over the summer. Sunday, Erin worked and we were back to the lake, enjoying beautiful weather post-Hurricane Erin (which did not hit us; she cooperated and stayed out in the Atlantic). Monday, the girls went in early for an Admissions Ambassadors meeting, of which they are both a part. They also had an all-school mass to start the year, and Erin had a meeting after school for her Service Beakers club. Anna had a Cooking Club meeting on Wednesday. The clubs are gearing up for a great year! 

Bob enjoyed the first Wolfpack game of the season on Thursday night against ECU with his friend Dave. The Pack won after blowing a solid lead early in the game. 

We all had a blast at the first Gibbons home football game on the 29th; they beat the top-seeded team out of Virginia and snapped their 3-year winning streak! Erin worked over the weekend (thankfully, Harris Teeter hasn't scheduled her during the week for the first few weeks of school, allowing her time to adjust to her school schedule and driving). Anna went shopping for homecoming dresses with Bella on Sunday. 

So, we are back at it! Everyone is adjusting to the girls driving themselves to/from school (my days feel so much longer without the 2 hours in the car each day), and Erin is doing a wonderful job with it. It's going to be a great school year!

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!  

August!

August was a great month with the end of summer and getting back into the school routine!  We girls had a blast on the 1st at Fantasy Lake, a new inflatable water park at a man-made lake north of here.  It was a former granite quarry, and the water was super clear and refreshing.  The water park was loads of fun, too!  

Anna enjoyed seeing the Barbie movie with friends on Wednesday the 2nd, and Erin had a tiring but great day at Gibbons on the 3rd for academic onboarding, where they got their laptops and were oriented to policies and procedures.  Friday the 4th, she enjoyed dinner and a show with her friend Jeff and got to see a few of her piano friends onstage!  She had a blast with more friends on Saturday for Vera's birthday party at Fenton, and then again on Sunday with friends doing gem mining and a lunch out in Apex.  This girl is a social butterfly!

Anna helped with new family orientation on Monday the 7th and went to Defy, Chick Fila, and Target with a few friends on Tuesday.  Erin was back with her friends on Wednesday, swimming at Tripp's pool.  On Thursday the 10th, Anna went to an 8th grade meetup at Defy while I had a fun evening playing music bingo with some of my cafeteria buddies.  We had a blast at the lake on the 12th with Sarah and Rory, and Sunday afternoon was our last-ever Back to School Mass at StMM!  

This year will be full of "lasts", but we are all excited and looking ahead to high school!  We had a yummy pizza dinner at Mellow Mushroom with the McGees after the mass.

Monday the 14th was Erin's first day of school!  Technically, the whole school started the next day; Monday was only for freshmen to attend (Freshman Welcome Day).  It began with a super fun parade in the parking lot with the drum line, cheerleaders, and hundreds of older students cheering for the freshmen as they arrived.  It was super fun and really helped calm some nerves!  

Erin had a great day - she met with her advisory (a group of 12 students and 1 teacher who will meet twice a week for the entire 4 years they're at Gibbons) and then got to go to each of her 8 classes and meet the teachers.  She felt much  more at ease after that day.  

While she was at school, Anna had a fun time at Lyla's.  I enjoyed my monthly book club that evening as well!  Tuesday was Erin's first real day with a normal schedule (except for an all-school mass for the holy day).  They have "A" and "B" days where they alternate 4 classes per day for the entire year.  On "A" days, she has dance, Spanish, Theology, and English.  On "B" days, she has flex (study hall), Math, Biology, and Freshman Seminar (in lieu of social studies; they help them acclimate to the school, develop study habits, and learn how to manage their time wisely).  

While Erin was at school, Anna and I went to mass at StMM and then she went back to Lyla's for awhile.  Bob and the Knights grilled a yummy lunch for the StMM teachers on Wednesday while Anna went to her last weekly babysitting day for Charlie and Jones.  She really worked hard this summer and earned a lot of money through pet sitting and babysitting!  

Thursday was Anna's first day of school!  While it was less exciting than Erin's, we are hoping that she has a great last year at the school she's been at since kindergarten.  

Bob enjoyed some boat time with friends on Friday afternoon.  Erin had a blast at her first high school football game as a student on Friday night, including an exciting touchdown in the final minute to win the game! 

The 4 of us plus Finley had a nice morning out on the lake on Saturday.  

Monday the 21st began our first full week of both schools, and we have so far been doing well with  navigating driving to two places, both of which are at least 20 minutes away!  Thanks to our awesome StMM carpool and Bob helping, nobody has had to be too early or late yet.  Fingers crossed!  Anna and Lyla did a little volleyball conditioning at the Apex Community Center after school on Monday, which must have worked because both of them made the varsity volleyball team after tryouts on Thursday and Friday!  Yay!  We are super excited for a really fun volleyball season! 

Erin has signed up for at least 3 clubs and has gone to interest meetings for each one.  Two are for dance and one is a service club, and she's super excited about the opportunities with all of them!  She's also doing a short field trip for her dance elective class on September 7th which sounds really fun as well.  In addition, she is going on a freshman retreat one day in October.  She is really getting into the high school scene and is definitely enjoying it!  

The rest of the week was spent getting in the swing of things, plus volleyball tryouts!  On Saturday, Anna had Meredith and Grace sleep over and they had a blast!  Erin and I went to cheer for her friend Vera at her first club soccer game of the season on Sunday.  It was a hot and tough game, but Vera did a great job.  Bob left Monday for 4 days in Boulder for work.  Anna also left bright and early on Tuesday morning for her 8th grade field trip to Cedar Mountain, NC for 4 days of hiking and nature!  Other than the hurricane coming (ha ha), it will be a blast!  

So, it was a very busy and fun month!  We are so excited for Erin as she begins her high school adventure and for Anna at her last year at StMM!

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!

August!

Well, August was a hot one around here!  We had a great and very busy month, beginning with our super fun and exciting trip out west from the 1st to the 8th.  The blog post for that awesome adventure can be found HERE.  Upon returning and being reunited with Finley (who did surprisingly well at the Pooch Pad all week), we spent the next week getting back to normal and preparing for the beginning of the school year.  I enjoyed book club on the 9th, and Erin started piano lessons back up and Anna soccer on the 10th.  I got back into the school cafeteria on the 11th by helping with a baked potato and salad lunch for the teachers, which was a lot of fun!  We girls were back at school on the 12th selling used uniforms.  Saturday the 14th was a fun and hot day rebuilding 5 picnic tables at StMM, as well as Anna's soccer practice!  Bob and 7 other guys did the building and assembling 2 basketball hoops.  I was just the lunch delivery service and clean-up crew.

Sunday the 15th was the annual (except for last year) back-to-school Mass and picnic.  Due to covid, we could not enter the school building to drop off supplies or meet teachers, but we were grateful that we were at least able to attend Mass, meet some teachers, and have a yummy Knights dinner outside (until it stormed!).  Monday, Erin and I were back at school assembling bags of balls and recess equipment for the classes and organizing the storage hallway.  I have agreed to help with the school PSO this year, so that has been busy as the year gets started!  Monday evening was a fun 7th grade gathering at a park nearby.  Tuesday was Anna's 6th grade social before soccer practice, as well as Erin's piano lesson.  Wednesday, I was back at school bright and early to help make breakfast for the teachers.  

Thursday was the big first day of school!  It was HOT (as well as the two weeks after), but everyone had a great day.  Things this year so far are somewhat improved on last year in that the kids have lockers again (no more clear bins at their desks), can switch classes (instead of the teachers rotating and kids being stuck in one seat all day), and mix amongst other classes in their grade at recess.  All of these have been huge improvements for them over last year.  On the flip side, they still have to wear masks all day, though not outdoors, and they still have to eat in the classrooms.  There is still definitely the stress and anxiety related to all of this, but I guess, sadly, we are used to it.

That Saturday was finishing up the table and bridge projects at school, as well as soccer for Anna, Sawyer Mattingly's first birthday party, and the girls completed altar server training ahead of the new and improved altar server responsibilities coming up in September.  Anna is going to try serving as well!  Sunday the 22nd, Anna went to Addie's house and Erin had a fun adventure at Margaret's birthday party when a huge storm blew up while they were at the pool.  All ended up well, though.

The next week was their first full week of school, and it was spent getting acclimated to the school routine.  Additionally, Anna tried out for the school volleyball team and made the JV team!  We are so excited and proud of her!  Volleyball is a short but intense season with practice or games 4 days per week for 8-9 weeks.  Her first game is tomorrow (9/2) and we are all very excited about it!  Erin also started up dance classes this week; she is taking 2 ballet classes this year in preparation to possibly go en pointe next year.  

Anna's first soccer game of the season was on Saturday the 28th, and it was HOT!!  Temps were around 95 degrees.  The girls were real troopers and played really well; they beat the Wave, who they had lost to twice last year.  Go Breakers!  Monday and Tuesday were busy with school, cafeteria, piano, volleyball, soccer, and back-to-school parent meetings for each kid.  We are just thankful that all of these things can happen this year.  The news continues to try to scare people about the "delta variant" of the covid virus, but the fine print is that people who are vaccinated most likely will not get sick, or will get very mildly sick.  We don't know what to believe other than we just want it over!  The good news, however, is that many more events can happen, such as sporting events, gatherings, etc.  We hope and pray that this will end eventually!

August

Well, things are slowly becoming somewhat more normal...or at least a little closer to normal, with still some things being definitely NOT normal.  But, baby steps!  Let's see...August started out really great with a super fun trip to Hilton Head (again!) where we met the Summer family and Grandma and Grandpa A. We got a hotel room at the new Courtyard by Marriott for 3 nights, and they were all in a really nice house down the road for the week.  We had a blast at the beach, riding bikes, pools at the house and hotel, and also did a really neat kayak tour one morning where we saw lots of dolphins, birds, and even a manatee!  So much fun!  

Finley tried the pool at the Pooch Pad while he was there, and it sounded like it was kind of a bust. 

We came back and had a yummy anniversary dinner a day late at Town Hall Burger and Beer right by our house while the girls stayed home alone (freedom!).  The following week, we stayed busy with school prep and also watching the Tierney birds (we had no casualties on our watch this time, thank goodness) and the Sauls guinea pig, plants, fish, and hermit crab.  Anna had a fun sleepover with Sarah, where they did their last virtual summer hip hop class and also went to paint pottery!  The girls and I laid a bunch of mulch and pine straw on the 10th in record time, supervised by Finley.  

Erin had her first piano lesson of the year also on the 10th.  It is back in person (with a virtual option), with her and the teacher wearing masks and sitting 6 feet apart.  The teacher got a cool new electronic piano that is more cleanable than her baby grand, so that is fun to play on!  I had my first lesson on September 2nd.

The week of the 17th, we had virtual meet the teacher and then the big first day of school on Thursday the 20th.  School is very different so far this year, but overall they (and I) are happy that they are back.  It feels good to be more in the normal routine and for me to not be trying to teach them everything.  The class sizes are smaller, they have to wear face masks all day except when eating, and they have to stay in their classrooms other than going to the bathroom, recess, or PE.  So, there is some grumbling about not switching classes, not eating lunch in the cafeteria, and missing out on some freedom, but overall I think they are just happy to be there, and they are adjusting to all of the changes.  Just being at school in itself was a big change after being home for over 5 months!  Luckily, Olivia is in Erin's class and Sarah is in Anna's, so we are all relieved about that.  Erin reports having fewer "bad boys" in her class this year, and Anna seems generally pleased with her class, so they really can't complain too much.  They have several new teachers this year, and all of them seem to be really great!

I am excited to report that I now have my first real "on the books" paying job since 2009!  Ha!  The cafeteria manager at StMM asked me if I would help cook/pack/deliver lunches to the classrooms.  Between the school not allowing parents or volunteers in the building and the requirement that kids eat in the classrooms and not the cafeteria, she needed to add some more staff.  I am just working two lunch shifts a week for a grand total of 6 hours a week, though this week I did pick up an extra shift because two people couldn't be there.  Anyway, it has been a blast so far and I am enjoying having the time in the building and getting to peek at everything.  It's also a really fun group to work with - we stay busy and work hard!

Some family excitement is that Dale and Maria and their boys moved to Orange County this month!  They had a big adventure driving cross country with the 3 boys and dog.  They got there, closed on their house, and are now moved in and settling in to a totally new area!  They are lucky to be close to the beach and are enjoying the gorgeous southern California weather.  Their house looks beautiful and we can't wait to visit!

Those are really the main highlights for the month.  We have spent the last two weeks mostly settling into the school routine.  We are doing a carpool with two other families this year, even though it was "strongly discouraged" by the school (they check the kids' temperatures each morning, and if one kid in a car has a fever, the whole car gets sent home to quarantine/"go virtual" for an extended amount of time), and that's going well so far.  Bob has continued cooking meals every Saturday and Sunday with the Knights of Columbus to donate, though things look to be changing there regarding funding from the county/state, so they may be changing their plan in the next month or so.  I have still been baking 8 batches of various bar cookies every Friday to him to put with the meals, and the girls and I have helped here and there with dinner prep and bagging donated groceries and produce to distribute.  

Erin had her first two ballet classes for the year at home virtually, but since the governor moved us to "Phase 2.5" starting tomorrow evening, they will now start meeting at the dance school on their regular schedule beginning next week.  She will have to wear a mask and parents can't be in the studio, but otherwise it sounds pretty much like normal.  Anna started soccer at the Y last week with neighbor friend Nina, and she had a great time!  They won't be playing other teams this year, but will be doing some drills and scrimmages within the team.  I think it will be a great season for her, and a good way to get started, since she hasn't played since she was 4. 

So, other than the coronavirus saga continuing, it was a fun month.  In between everything else, we have spent some time at the pool and have gone on a few hikes plus our daily neighborhood walks. 

It's been hot lately, though we did have a little reprieve at some point during the month.  Fall will get here eventually, right?!  We are looking forward to continued improvements on the situation here and hoping for better times ahead!  As of now, the ACC is still playing football, though the first NC State game was delayed until 9/19.  We are hoping that still happens!

August!

August was a good month with a super fun trip and school starting!  The first week was fairly tame, including Erin’s first piano lesson for the year, until Friday the 9th, when we went to neighbor friend Kevin’s father’s funeral (which made the 4th funeral for us this summer!), followed by the long-awaited hot tub installation!  All went smoothly, and Bob and Anna were in it by the following evening once the chemicals got straightened out.



Sunday the 11th-Wednesday the 14th was our super fun Disney World trip!!  After returning, Erin had her second time as an altar server for the Assumption holy day, then we had a fun visit with Grandma and Grandpa F. on Friday the 16th!  That was also the long-awaited day of finding out homeroom teachers/class assignments.  There was some good and bad news there, but such is life and we got through it.

Saturday the 17th, Anna went to a pool party in the morning, and then we met Uncle Dale, Aunt Maria, and family at a brewery in Durham, where Anna and the boys had a blast in the downpour and playing with rocks!  Finley got to go as well since Hi-Wire is dog-friendly, which he appreciated.  The next day was the Back to School Mass/Meet the Teacher night, and all went well there.  Olivia came to sleep over that night, and we had a fun day on Monday meeting Enzo and his family at the pool for a little lunch pizza party!  Then, Sarah came to spend the night on Monday night, and they had a fun day on Tuesday as well, including a trip to Defy trampoline park.

 

Wednesday the 21st was the big first day of school, and all went well!  It has taken some time to adjust and settle in, but I think we are just about there.

The girls are right near each other now on the upstairs hallway, as well as having the same lunchtime, but I don’t hear of many encounters.  I had my back-to-back book clubs on Thursday and Friday of that week, and Anna was back to tennis on Saturday.  Dance classes started back up on Friday this week - Erin is doing ballet again, and Anna is doing jazz again this year.  Erin got to serve at Mass again on Sunday, and each time she seems to be a little more confident.  She really enjoys it!

The final week of the month was a little more busy as we adjusted to our new routine, including trying a regular carpool this year, which has been great for me!  I went to the dentist and had a haircut  in my newfound free time, and Bob spent most of the week in California for work.  Finely had some sadness about them going back to school and likes to walk them to the driveway each day when they leave with the carpool.  He is enjoying more daytime walks, though.  The last day of the month was our first Wolfpack football game, which we all enjoyed watching in the comfort of the a/c at home!

So, it was a good month; also, Erin lost 3 teeth!  We are now settled in for the school year and are all hoping for cooler weather sometime soon!

Disney World!

We had a wonderful time in Disney World this week!  This trip was more of a last-minute one and less planning was involved, which ended up being just fine.  We booked the trip in early July with a great coupon code for 3 park days and 3 nights on site at the Grand Floridian resort.  This was our first time at this resort, and we picked it partly because it was on the monorail, which we thought would be a big help in the heat, and also because it wasn't much more expensive than the value resorts with the coupon.

So, Sunday morning the 11th, we took Finley to the Pooch Pad where he didn't look back at us when they took him happily back to the kennel.  Then we headed to the airport around 9:15am, got parked, through security, and got Salsaritas lunch before our 11:25 flight, which left on time and was uneventful.  We hopped on the Magic Express bus and were at our resort 30 minutes later!  We got checked in and they had a room ready for us in the Big Pine Key building, which was a 5-story building separate from the main building...I think there were maybe 5 buildings plus the villas, something like that.  Our room had a pretty vaulted ceiling and balcony overlooking the lagoon. 



We got settled in, picked up our awesome Walmart grocery delivery that we had pre-scheduled in the lobby, and then hit the pool!  The resort had one big pool with zero entry and some fountains, and also another slightly smaller pool with a waterfall and a really fun water slide.  We tried both out and loved them!  It wasn't super crowded that afternoon.  The resort also had a small water playground area, but the sign said only kids under a certain height could use it...and even though we saw taller kids there, Erin refused to set foot in there and break the rules.  After swimming for awhile, we got dinner at the quick service Gasparilla Island Grill in the main building which was very good!  Then we happened upon a campfire with marshmallows on the beach area, which we gladly sampled. 



Then it was back to the room for showers and bed, but just as the kids were falling asleep, we heard some music outside our room.  We looked out and saw a neat electrical parade on the water!  We also heard the fireworks from Magic Kingdom but did not see them that night.

Monday was our big Magic Kingdom day!  We got up and had breakfast in the room, then hopped on the monorail and got in the park by 8:30.  We were able to walk down Main Street, but had to wait at the Adventureland entrance until rope drop at 9:00.  We got a peek at the fun opening ceremony but were all business zooming towards Big Thunder Mountain.  Since we booked late, we didn't have the best pick of FastPasses, but we did our best and worked the system as much as we could each day.  We got on BTM with a short wait, then on to the Magic Carpets of Aladdin, which was one of Erin's favorites this time (?).  We loved seeing Aladdin and Jasmine show up at the ride and even hopped on for a spin right before our turn!  Anna also appreciated the spitting camels there.  Then it was on to the teacups, one of our favorites, then Dumbo, the Barnstormer, splash pad for Anna, the Ariel ride, It's a Small World (another of Erin's favorites), then Anna drove a racecar at the Tomorrowland Speedway while Erin took another spin in the teacups. 







We happened by a show at the castle on our way to lunch at Tony's Italian restaurant, where Anna and I had super cheesy pizza and Bob and Erin got spaghetti and meatballs.  On that note, a high point of this trip for Erin was purchasing off the adult menu at each meal.  We could have probably squeezed her in as a 9-year-old, but we all know that Erin is a rule-follower and would not have stood for that.  Also, the kids' meals might not have been sufficient anyway...she ate most or all of her adult meals each time!

We enjoyed a view of the street party while we ate.  After lunch, we met Mickey and Minnie all decked out in special celebration outfits, then hit the carousel, Philharmagic, Pirates of the Caribbean (new for us...not too scary!), met Tiana and Rapunzel, did Enchanted Tales with Belle (Anna was the ottoman!), and got yummy ice cream treats - Mickey ice cream bars for Bob, Anna, and me and a frozen strawberry lemonade for Erin. 



After that, we were pretty hot and tired, so we monorailed back to the hotel for a short break before dinner.  We went back to a quick service favorite, Captain Cook's at the Polynesian, which was on the monorail as well.  The parents got yummy pork nachos, Erin got chicken and Asian noodles, and Anna got mac and cheese (I think).  After that, Erin and I walked back to the Grand Floridian along the water, hoping for another marshmallow roast, but it had started raining.  Instead, we watched a band in the lobby for awhile, played Uno in the room, Erin practiced some ballet, then we got showers watched the electrical parade.  Anna and Bob went back to Magic Kingdom for round two!  They did encores of the tea cups, Dumbo, Barnstormer, and Aladdin rides...and also got a peek at the fireworks on their way back.

Tuesday, we got up and out by 8:15 and rode the monorail to Epcot via a transfer at the TTC.  The entrance line at Epcot was long and slow, and we probably could have gotten there earlier than we did, but we did our best and zoomed over to Test Track first thing.  It was already about an hour wait, but the lines there always feel fast with entertainment and things like designing our racecar.  Everyone but Erin loved that ride! 



We redeemed ourselves with Erin shortly after with Living with the Land, a slow ride with lots of plants and greenhouses.  Then it was on to Anna's much-awaited Spaceship Earth, where we had to wait outside for 45 minutes or so.  Poor Anna toughed it out and was crushed when the camera didn't catch her picture, so she didn't get in the cartoon story at the end.  Sad.  We offered to ride it again later with a FastPass, but she refused.  Then we rode the Nemo ride and enjoyed seeing dolphins and other marine animals at The Seas pavilion.  We tried out the mobile ordering ahead for lunch at the Electric Umbrella quick service, but Mom didn't realize that we had to check in on the phone when we got there...so there was a short wait, but still probably better than waiting in line.  Bob, Erin, and I had yummy brisket sandwiches and Anna had chicken nuggets.

Then it was on to the countries via a super fun splash area for Anna, which required an outfit change.  We just walked through Canada and the UK, then enjoyed the panoramic movie in France.  We walked into Morocco and looked around and also saw a neat art exhibit in Japan.  We then got gelato, peach smoothie, and an Italian margarita in Italy...yum! 



Anna liked walking through the miniature village in Germany, and then it was time for the long-awaited Frozen Ever After ride.  It was a cute ride with a couple of mild thrilling parts.  Our last country was Mexico, where we rode the Tres Caballeros ride and admired the indoor "outdoor" market.  At that point, we all really wanted to ride Soarin' but had no FastPasses available, so we decided to give it a try.  Turned out that the wait was less than 30 minutes, so we all really loved it - especially Anna!  They had changed it a little since last time we were there - this time, we flew around the world instead of around the US.  Sadly, there were no orange trees with smell, but there were some other really neat sights, sounds, and smells! 



We got back to the room around 5:30 and deliberated about dinner for awhile before heading back to the Gasparilla Island Grill.  This trip, we were not on the meal plan...so, that combined with the late booking meant not many options were available to us as far as character meals or table service.  It was fine, though.  We had wanted to eat at the pool grill, but the pools were closed due to weather.  Luckily, they opened back up after dinner and were even the only people in the Courtyard Pool for awhile!  After swimming and going down the slide until about 8pm, we went back and showered before heading to the fireworks viewing spot at the resort.  The music was piped in to accompany the show, and we loved watching it! 



Then, it was bedtime...sadly, Anna had a rough night that night with an upset stomach.  She was up a lot of the night and was not feeling well the next morning.

So, after mulling it over, we got our checkout time extended to 1pm and got Anna and Bob replacement one-day park tickets to be used within the next two years (thanks, Grand Floridian!  They didn't have to honor them, but they did...it was up to the resort since we purchased a ticket package through them - we were surprised and grateful!).  You can bet that Anna will make sure they get used!  We decided for me and Erin to go on back to Magic Kingdom as planned...she also mentioned Animal Kingdom, but without FastPasses for the safari, Expedition Everest, and Avatar, plus longer travel times to get there, I was worried that we wouldn't get to do much in the half day we had.  So, AK next time!  We got to MK by 8:45 and watched the rope drop opening ceremony.  I was surprised to see decorations up for the Halloween party that were not there 2 days before...I think the party starts on August 16th.  I really enjoyed seeing the pumpkins, scarecrows, etc.





We were two of a very small group who rushed to Small World after rope drop ;) then got on the Ariel ride again, Dumbo, Aladdin, Tiki Room (new for us!), and Pirates again...utilizing FastPasses as much as possible.  We stopped to watch the show at the castle on our way to see Tinkerbell, then said farewell to Magic Kingdom and were back on the monorail by about 12:30. 



We picked up food for everyone at the Gasparilla Island Grill again (but most of us had different things each time we went!) and met Bob and Anna with the bags in the hotel lobby and had a picnic lunch with surprise visitors Tigger, Piglet, and Winnie the Pooh!  Our bus showed up at 2:15 and took us to the airport, where we had no issues getting through security and had a long wait in the terminal between early arrival and our flight being delayed for almost an hour.  We got dinner in the airport, boarded, and had a nice flight back to Raleigh with some pretty clouds out the windows!  We landed just before 8pm and were home by 8:45pm to Finley who Tara and Ella had picked up for us that evening.

So, it was a fun and busy trip, but we had a blast!  It is hard to beat Disney and all of the extra special touches that they have.  I'm sure, as Mickey says, that we will "see ya real soon!".  The rest of our pictures are HERE.