When we came home from New Jersey, Graydon played in a baseball tournament.
He played catcher for his team and did an incredible job. His team was runner-up champs in the tournament.
We've been attempting to get some good use from our pool membership. Curtis is, by far, the one who enjoys going most often.
Curtis did some shopping with his birthday money.
While we were traveling, our garden had gotten pretty overgrown.
That's a little better. We still have some cherry tomatoes and broccoli. There is a brand new strawberry plant at the right end. I think we got one strawberry from it this year. We know that those plants can take a couple of years to start really producing.
I made dinner one night (well, I prepped and marinated the chicken and Andy grilled it). Everyone was taking too long to come to the table and I wanted to dig in, so I took a picture to demonstrate how they were supposed to prepare their plate.
Our church camp was canceled again this summer, but the Moravian church camp in Wisconsin was still happening. So, after being home from New Jersey for a few days, Bella decided to leave for another week to go to camp. I don't have any photos from that, but that's why Bella is missing from many of these photos.
We had an electrician at our house all day one day. He needed to turn the power off, so we decided to make plans to be gone for the day. We took Mabel with us. The day began with us needing to get new tires on the van. There is a walking trail near the tire place, so we took Mabel on a long walk. We came upon a little stream beneath a bridge and she got her feet wet a little bit. We've never taken her to a pool or a lake, so we weren't sure what her feelings were about water.
She didn't seem to mind it, but she didn't try to go swimming either.
After we got our new tires, we went out to our land and then went shopping for school supplies. Since we had Mabel with us, Andy waited out in the car with her. When we finished up, we grabbed some lunch and then Andy and the boys went bowling. Then it was my turn to hang out with Mabel. At the end of the day, we were all pretty worn out, but Mabel was still enjoying herself.
I took Curtis to the pediatrician because he needed to get his shots updated. Since he got a couple pokes in the arms, I decided to treat him to his favorite restaurant: Wendy's!
We never got around to planting any flowers this summer, so mostly weeds grew in our pots. But then this surprise popped up!
I've been spending a lot of time at school getting my office ready, planning upcoming initiatives, and prepping lots of materials. There is still plenty to do, but I'm at least ready for the first few days of school.
Last weekend, Andy and the kids had a youth retreat in Ohio. I stayed back to take care of the animals. This was my very first time in my entire almost 41 years of life that I have been home alone overnight in my own home. I've been alone in hotel rooms. I have traveled alone to visit family. But I have never stayed at my own home alone. Even if Andy has been gone, I've always had the kids with me. I must say. . . I had a really relaxing time. I opened the bottle of wine my dad bought me in Missouri and did pretty much whatever I felt like doing. And the house stayed so clean! But by the end of the weekend, I was really happy to see them all again.
And finally, Graydon had his open house the other night. He is officially going to junior high! He practiced opening his locker and we walked around the school locating each of his classrooms. I meant to get a photo of him posing with his locker, but got distracted and forgot. He's definitely more excited about the start to THIS school year!
I go back to school tomorrow and the kids officially start the next day. Another summer break has come to an end. That's always a little bittersweet. But new school years also bring new beginnings, which is exciting.
