First day of school and Eclipse

We are in it now. School is back in session. I can't believe how fast the summer has flown by! I feel like I barely had any break at all. Another couple of weeks would have been nice.

Neil is starting 2nd grade. His teacher this year is Mrs. Stanley. I was really happy with his placement. I think she will be really good for him this year. He was happy to see several of his friends who were also in his class. When I picked him up after the day ended he said, "I had a 100% super awesome day!"

Grace is starting 4th grade. Her teacher is Ms. Holck. When she first found out her teacher she was in tears. She had her hopes set on someone else. I tried to ease her fears, but I too had my own reservations. Then she found out her best friend was also in the class. After that she resolved that it didn't matter who she had as long as she had a friend. I was still a bit apprehensive, but after her first day she was bubbling with enthusiasm. She loved the teacher. So for now I think I will see how it goes. I'm glad she is happy.

Claire is now in 7th grade. I just can't even believe how much she has grown up over the last year. She is looking more and more like a young adult everyday. She is almost my height and we can pretty much wear the same clothes. She is taking orchestra again this year along with STEM. This means she will have zero period PE every single day. That means 7:30 start time. Oh boy. She is my child that would sleep til noon if I let her. I really hope we both survive this.

Our first day of school was also complicated by the fact that it was Eclipse Day. We had all been eagerly awaiting the eclipse and the school district actually purchased enough glasses for every student. I was a bit concerned about my kids (mostly Neil) using the glasses correctly and heeding the safety warnings. I decided to just go to the school to help supervise him during the activity.

It was pretty fun to be out at the school where everyone was out seated on the blacktop staring up at the sky with their special glasses. The teachers were able to teach about the rare event and all of the kids really enjoyed it. I was a bit disappointed in our view from here. We were only about 75% in our area. I regret not going somewhere for the 100%. Next time I think I will make the effort.

 

Bulldogs

Soccer is in full swing. Neil was able to get on a team with the same coach from last year who is his friend's dad. Their team is the Bulldogs. This last weekend was his first 2 games. He was able to play goalie and also play on the field. He really enjoys running around with the other kids. Fingers crossed that this year he will be able to score a goal. He usually plays defense, but has it in his head that he wants to score. Go Bulldogs!

Grace's team has started up too. They haven't had a game yet, so I will introduce them when they play.

Vacation part 2 & 3

When we arrived home from Chicago, we had more fun plans lined up. The very next day my sister Keara and her hubby Jeff were at my house. He had been finishing up an internship for a company in San Jose, so they were in town for a bit. It was really fun to spend some time with them as we showed them around our little city. We went to the pool, relaxed, chatted, and mostly just hung out.

A few days later my parents arrived. They flew in late on a Friday night and on Saturday we drove to Napa to watch Grace play in her last softball tournament for the summer. It was fun to watch her play catcher again and to see her team. That same evening we drove down to Oakland because we had tickets to watch the A's play the Minnesota Twins. We had great seats in the stadium and were thankfully in the shade. It was nice to sit for a bit.

 

After the game ended, the stadium did a huge fireworks show. The theme for the night was Harry Potter. The fireworks were choreographed to HP music and it was really well done. Everyone enjoyed the show.

The next day Keara and Jeff had to head back to Utah, but my parents were still around. We went up to Napa again to watch Grace's last game. We were done early enough in the day to come back home to rest for the afternoon. Chili's was on the menu for dinner naturally. We played games, played in the backyard, and even got a little hot tub time in. Then we prepped for part 3 of our vacay.

 

My parents left for the airport around 4:30am. I drove them there and then went back home to load up our van. Around 7am we hit the road for Oregon. Talk about back to back fun! It was kinda crazy. We arrived that evening around 6 and we were exhausted. 

Our time in Oregon was extremely limited this time. We were there less than a week. We had a couple of big family get togethers, spent a day at the lake on the boat, and saw a movie. Other than that there was barely any time to go or see anyone. I was bummed that I wasn't able to see my Oregon friends. Ladies, I am planning to come back in December...so hopefully all of our schedules will allow one girls night out.

Lots of cousin time in the yard. Fun times! They all got to see baby Owen, their newest cousin.

Driving home again. We left around 6am this time. It really helped to leave a bit earlier. The girls were able to get some sleep, and Neil got to choose the movie.

We were truly tired after all of the back to back activity that we had. Once home we were able to somewhat relax a bit. The two younger ones started their second round of swim lessons and they also started soccer. Summer was bound to end.