I meant to blog earlier this week so I didn't get so far behind, but honestly - this was not the week for spare time!
Before we talk about back to school, let's talk about all the summer fun we had in August! We enjoyed some fun pool days, and I made kind of a last minute decision to take the kids up to Abbotsford to meet up with Brian's parents for a day while they were passing through (Monday, August 16th)! Last minute decisions when crossing the border aren't without some complications, so we had to find a Covid test on Saturday and hope that the results would be speedy coming back. We went to Bellevue College first thing after they opened, and were in and out in 30 minutes - not bad! Got our results early Sunday morning so that was a relief! Adam was not upset about the fact that Dad was not coming, and it wasn't an issue the whole time we were gone! Whew! We drove up Monday early afternoon, and the border crossing was smooth and looking like we would coast through, until the border guard got a phone call telling him that Adam and Nathan would have to be tested there because they were too young to be vaccinated:-(. I was pretty stressed about this, and the guard agreed it was ridiculous since we would be back home before we even got the results, but we did what we were told. It took us about an extra 30 minutes only which isn't terrible, and Adam was completely fine and happy while we were doing this! I was so worried he would start stressing but he was amazing! What a blessing! We met up with Brian's parents at the hotel and the boys went swimming while Lynsey and Frances went shopping (I thought Lynsey might like some alone time shopping with Grandma:-)). We decided to try the Ricki's attached to the hotel, and it turned out that it was like this special Ricki's that served a bunch of Mennonite farmer sausage meals and was amazing! Service was a bit slow so we were all pretty hungry by the time our food came, but it was definitely worth it! I was again amazed at how happy Adam was to just wait there, I think seeing Grandma and Grandpa more than made up for not having Dad, and for all the waiting!
The next day, the boys went swimming again while Frances and Lynsey went back to the mall to do a return and get some Starbucks. I was able to get away to get some Rempel Farmer Sausage and some stuff from Superstore which was nice. We went back to that Ricki's for lunch (why not!) and off we went back home! A whirlwind trip, well worth doing! Border crossing home was easy and the drive was fine. Sometimes, you have to take a chance:-).
We had a pretty relaxing few weeks, Brian and I went to a Josh Groban concert at Chateau St. Michelle which was so much fun! We took one last camping trip of the summer with our friends the Daveys last weekend. We went to Scenic Beach close to Seabeck, beautiful area! We took the Bremerton ferry there, making our actual driving time quite minimal, and when we got there, discovered beautiful sites and calm but slightly cool weather. It was a great weekend! We did a hike at Guillemot Cove that brought us to a nice beach where we skipped rocks for a while and then walked back. Took a trip into town with Kristy and Ellie to get some stuff. Hung out at the campsite, had some dinner, and walked to the beach at the campground for a beautiful sunset. It was a great day! I even slept okay, especially on the Saturday night - maybe my capacity for tent camping has been renewed lol! When the weather is good it's certainly a lot better! Packed up Sunday and took the Bremerton ferry back, some beautiful views on the clear sunny day. It was a nice last summer weekend!
The days before school started were hectic. Monday and Tuesday consisted of hair appointments and filling out forms and joining clubs and all kinds. I haven't even talked about the fact that Lynsey made the volleyball team! So exciting for her! It's a great opportunity for her to see if volleyball is something she wants to really invest in and try and get as far as she can, and a great chance for her to get to know people in her huge high school and make a community for herself. Anyway, just another thing on the list that needed attention before school started! Adam and I went to the middle school to meet his new teacher and see his classroom, he seemed really happy to be there and his teacher seemed really great. I have to admit I had some feelings about him going off to middle school, leaving the safe cocoon of Horace Mann:'-(. All part of the growing up process!
Wednesday came and along with it a whole new routine! Lynsey leaves for school around 7:20, Adam gets on the bus around 8, and Nathan is biking and leaves around 8:30. I walked with him for the first two days, but on Friday he went by himself and seemed to have got himself there on time (he gets easily distracted so I do worry about him dawdling a bit!). It was a great first week, although Adam did have a bit of a rough ending on Friday. He was a bit stressed coming off the bus, but it's not really all that surprising. So much going on this week - 3 full days of school for the first time in forever after a summer off, it took it's toll! Thankfully we have a long weekend to recover - we all need it!
I want to touch back on volleyball and Lynsey's high school entrance - she is doing amazing. She is going to a school with over 2000 students and she is making herself a place already. She has volleyball practice every day, and she tries to get there early to help set up the nets. She is showing them that she is ready to work hard and improve and I'm so proud of her! I was at the school on Thursday volunteering at the laptop rollout and I saw her at lunch, she was sitting alone which hurt my mama heart a little, but she wasn't upset or self conscious - she was just being herself! Yesterday I went to the volleyball practice to train how to do score keeping, and I met some other moms which was really fun. One of the moms happened to be the mom of one of the girls on Lynsey's C team that she has talked about! There was a football game at the school that evening, and a bunch of the girls arranged to go together! And Avery's mom offered to pick Lynsey up so she didn't have to try and find her friends there, amazing! She had a great time at the football game, so strange to have her out at the this event where we were not - I think this is the first time we've had this! She was so sweet, taking videos for me so I could see what a high school football game in America is like haha. She also connected with a friend from middle school over text and discovered that he has the same lunch as her so she doesn't have to eat alone anymore<3. It was an encouraging day, I feel like she is going to be okay!
Whew lots of feelings and emotions this week, all a bit overwhelming but I know we will settle into a new routine in no time. I had kind of thought this Fall that I might dive into looking into school or work or volunteering, but I really don't know how I would have managed this week with something else:-/. We will see if I decide now is the time, or if I put it off again because I have enough going on!
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