First Day of School 2018

Luke and Liam (5th grade) and Aiden (3rd grade)

First Day of School for 2018-19

Here we go!

Liam and Luke are doing the safety patrol at school and they enjoy it.  That's Liam with the big flag.  My neighbor took this picture on the first day of school.

Finn's first day of Kindergarten at Step by Step Montessori

Finn was all Smiles

Feeding the animals at the orchard

Corn pit

Liam would have taken a chicken home with him if I turned my back for too long!

Aiden loved the chickens too, but he's not quite as gentle as Liam

And Finn loved the chickens, but looked a bit like he might strangle them!

Liam went back 3-4 times to see the chicks

Luke loved them too

Aiden and the big tractor

Finn and his buddy Landon

We visited the orchard with several friends on a gorgeous day

A picture we take every single year!


We had a gorgeous weekend after the first week of school and decided to take advantage of it with a trip to the apple orchard.  The weather is still really nice and warm and the bees have not started coming out just yet.  We had a wonderful time with friends and enjoyed all the animals and playing on the farm.  We have been going to this orchard since Luke and Liam were a year old so it holds many fond memories.  

Additionally, we started school last week and are trying to get back into the routine of going to bed on time, doing homework, etc...Luke and Liam are in 5th grade and this is their final year of elementary school.  They will move to the middle school at a different location next year.  They are enjoying their teacher thus far and were selected to be on the safety patrol to help kids getting to and from their bus or car before and after school.   Luke and Liam are gearing up for hockey tryouts pretty soon and hockey season will officially begin in a little over a month.  

Aiden is in 3rd grade and has also enjoyed his teacher so far.  He will start basketball season pretty soon and is playing some recreational hockey to get ready for hockey season.  Finn started kindergarten three full days per week.  Its enough time away from me that I can actually get things accomplished, but we still have two weekdays together.  He is enjoying school so far and has the same kindergarten teacher that his brothers had so its a great set up for us and for Finn.  With Finn's late July birthday, we have not decided his plans for next year yet.  We will see how this year goes and then make a decision.  

Seaside 2018

Heading to the beach for the first time after we landed in Florida

Beautiful ocean

And lovely white sandy beaches

The boys were so excited!

Everyone spent some time buried in the sand.  Finn was high maintenance with this because he screamed for help each time a finger or other body part wasn't covered completely with sand.

Sandy Liam

Aiden

After waking up at 4:30 AM to leave the house for Florida, Finn was exhausted.  This was taken after we arrived at the beach house around 4:00 pm.

Sunset on the beach

We rode bikes everywhere we went

Trying to re create porch swing pictures taken a few years ago.  (see blogs from Sept. 2016 and July 2015)

Aiden had no problem relaxing at the beach

Paddle ball

Kayaking with John and Luke

Family picture courtesy of some kind women from Texas

"Our Sweet Spot"  This is the house where we stayed

Finn met a buddy named Dalton and we played with him throughout the week.  This is a trench that Finn and Dalton worked on for hours.

Amphitheater music 

Another porch swing picture before we left

Ice cream!

Digging a giant pool on the beach

And more digging

Who doesn't love ice cream?

yummy....

Finn had the Blue Monster ice cream

Dinner at Fish Out of Water on the last Night

Beautiful views from restaurant

Luke and Liam loved their sleeping arrangements

We enjoyed a final week of summer last week at the beach.  We stayed in WaterColor, the same area where we have visited several other times.  This was our 7th trip to the area.  I grew up going to Seaside in the summer and we took Luke, Liam, and Aiden there for the first time when they were 2 years and Aiden was 4-5 months of age.

To say we have done a lot of growing since our first trip to Seaside is an understatement.  For the first time, John and I felt a bit of relief and found the trip to be much easier than it has been in previous years.  Luke and Liam are old enough to take care of themselves and help with their brothers so John and I were able to do a few runs together nearby the beach house.  The boys even managed to make their own breakfast every morning so we had a bit of a break.  This trip was also different because Aiden can ride a bike on his own now!  Finn is the only one left to pull in the Burley so our riding to and from the beach and other activities was so much easier.

We even ventured out to spend an entire day at the beach on two of the days we were there.  In the past, we have taken breaks and gone back tot the house for food and to rest, but this year we were able to spend several hours at the beach without wearing out as quickly (even if we were all in bed by 9:00 pm!).  We seem to have entered a new phase of vacations where perhaps it will be a bit more of an actual vacation!  Nonetheless, we were all talking about going back before we even left.  The area holds many special memories for each of us and the week did not disappoint.  

Nearing the end of Summer

Liam and his best friend, Jack, working on a fort together

We were very lucky to see some NHL players playing a pickup game after Liam's skating camp last week.  Yes, there were three guys out there who play for the Minnesota WILD!

We did a service project with friends last Monday where we packed backpacks for kids in need

Fun park we visited after the service project

Charlie, Finn, and Luke in their fort

Jack and Liam (with head poking out the window)

The gang at the park

Hiding in a cave during the rain!

Luke has really gotten into golf recently.  John and Luke go out for a quick game frequently.  On one of the days, Finn was allowed to join them!  I think Finn was most excited about the golf ball washer and the water in snow cone cups!

Liam got a brand new bike!  His old bike was passed down to Aiden after he learned to ride recently.


We are nearing the end of summer and we are all trying to savor every last minute.  We have been to a new park this week, completed a service project, purchased a new bike for Liam, played golf, and spent a day swimming at our neighborhood pool with friends.  I can't say I blame the boys for not wanting to go back to school??  

Our summer activities are also starting to wrap up a bit.  We have one final hockey tournament this weekend for Luke and then a break before the regular season starts up in October.  Finn and Aiden will complete their soccer season with a jamboree over the weekend and Luke and Liam will begin to gear up for Squirt hockey tryouts.  It has been a very fun summer!