Dear August,
Where did you go? Seems like you just arrived before September came around the corner. Well see you next year, hope you can stay longer :)
August marked a new schedule in our house. The start of marching band season. The boys days with Daddy came to end, but not before they went golfing! It was a par three course and Daddy rented a cart. Riley took golf lessons this summer and Brady got his own clubs. Eddie had been waiting for this day since he bought Riley his first clubs on this 5th or 6th birthday.
The boys got to some spend full days with Grammy and Papa. They got to check on the dam progress in Cuyahoga Falls a couple times. They got to visit the Akron Zoo to see the new Grizzly bears, Cleveland Zoo to see the elephants, ride camels and feed parrots. And the Pittsburgh Zoo. I tagged along on the day trip to Pittsburgh. (I have this thing about my children being in the same state with me all the time.) Plus I wanted to do something fun! We got to see Aunt Becky and her wonderful garden and to what's new in her homesteading world. Pittsburgh zoo was awesome with an aquarium, river otters (my favorite) , giraffes, elephants, rhinos, flamingos, a polar bear, deers to name a few animals. It had a wondeful playground in the middle with cargo nets with slides. The boys could have played on that all day. so glad to ride the elevator with Becky, as we sent the boys with Grammy & Papa down the crazy vertigo inducing escalator.
Warrior Dash 2013! I participated in this 3.5 miles of obstable courses with my oldest friend, Leslie. No, she is younger than me. Oldest in the sense, I met her on the first day of Kindergarten and we have been friends ever since. Life has taken us in different directions. It could be years, months or weeks since I have talked to her last. But we always pick right back up like no time has passed. And by chance I ran into her in the Target( the best Target in Summit County) and she talked me into running this race with her and Kelly. Fast forward 8 months ! I literally forgot i had registered. But thankfully had run a little bit prior to this day with my friend Cassie. (everyone needs a Cassie in their life). Race day: nervous, I can't believe we are doing this. Just the 2 of us, Leslie and I survived! We didn't die. (that was one of our goals...not to die). Over and under fences and walls. Thru mud puddles, trenches, under barbed wire, cargo nets galore, water obstacles, swimming and jumping over fire. And the last mud pit (this is how the dinosaurs died!). We did it! What an awesome feeling. Accomplishment. I can't believe we just did that! So grateful I have the ability to do such things. I had one awesome bruise and some scraps. And a heck of a lot of sore muscles. Who wants to do the dash with me next year?!
We attended the 50th wedding anniversary of two very dear people. Ted & Laura. What a fun celebration. Our kids know them as Nonnie and Paw. They are kind of amazing people. They love their family and friends with a kind warmth. And you can tell Laura is still crazy about Ted and vice versa. It was a fun picnic and good to see friends from high school, hang out with sister in laws and for all the cousins to play together. And Eddie might have taken some ridiculous pictures on Nancy's new camera.
August started the crazy new soccer practice schedule. Brady Mon & Wednesday from 5:30 until 6:45. Riley- Tues & Thurs 6:00 to 7:45. and games on Saturdays and SUNDAYs. What the what? Sundays should be a day of rest - church, family & naps. The boys enjoy soccer. And they have some really great coaches. Brady's coach: Coach Robertson - intense, played soccer all of his life and has assistant coaches and about 100 cones at each practice running various drills. He sends us field diagrams, terms and side line etiquette. Riley's coach: coach Boorman. He seems to be coaching 85 teams. He is a little rough around the edges, but he gets the boys to play hard and you can see their skills improve by each game. And we get to hang out with friends as Riley, Connor & Ben all play on the same team.
Friends: So thankful for the Thirsty Thursdays group of girls. They are a good bunch. I am blessed to have wonderful friends. And to see other friendships grow over the past year. You are never too old to make new friends. We got to celebrate Marie's birthday (The Office) and Nancy's 40 (wine &canvas event at Mandy's) and a late night on Darby's patio after yoga. Got to see most of the scrappy girls twice this month. Once at Missy's, watching SYTYCD and eating pasta. And then at Archiver's for an actual crop where I might have actually scrapbooked a page or two. My sister dear Missy is so good at "gathering" friends, I love that about her. And she also has the best baby sitters. We have shared a sitter so we could go to Sarah's to celebrate a sweet friend, Shanna's birthday. Eddie had a band party, so I got to tag along with Ben & Missy. It was a fun night once we got a table outside watching the sunset with some yummy food and getting to know Uncle Kevin. (this was also the night Baby Jacob got stung by a bee - not a first you want to celebrate) but a quick thinking babysitter and Ben made a trip home to check on him, he was just fine.
Dine Time: We joined the small group dine time at church. Just a monthly gathering to share a meal and get to know church family. in our group: craig & shanna, Mike & Lorrie, Bea, Shirley and us. We hosted on the last free August Friday nights. Simple dinner of fajitas, mango salsa & guacamole. Bea kept calling it granola! She loved it and never tried avocados before. We played pitched car and learned a new card game Trash.
Maroon 5: The 2nd time to see the band this year. This concert was at Blossom and on a Monday night. For some it was the first day of school! whoopsie! Me, Mandy & Cassie. We missed Heather. Adam and the band put on a great show and Kelly clarkson opened. Seriously it was kind of a mess getting out of the parking lot and Blossom should put a Taco Bell in the parking lot - it would make leaving so much better. This is where Mandy earned her nickname "snickers". Which fast forward about 12 weeks and we learn the real reason. She is good at keeping secrets!
School: first grade for Brady - Mrs. Hulten & 3rd grade for riley - Mrs. Hansel. We made it to both open houses between soccer practices. Eddie started a new marching band season. And this one would turn out to be the longest one of his career so far. Hello playoffs! The undefeated Highland Hornets. They would go on to play the Friday after Thanksgiving and lose the title to Glenville.
First attempt at freezer meals - Missy and I made a bunch of freezer meals to get us through the hectic start of school. We each came away with like 7 meals. Not bad for a couple hours of work.
So much packed into 31 days of August 2013!
{this posted was originally dated 9/05/2013}