Summer is Over.

Dang.
School starts Monday.
It has been a summer full of adventure and fun and everything that a summer should be.
I'm so glad.
It wasn't until this week that the kids started bickering and I had the thought, "Gee...when does school start again?" 
Pretty good timing. 

We've done the "Back to School" nights and the kids are ready. Sam is nervous.  He says just a little, though - and he isn't one to feign bravery - so I think he's really okay.  He teacher has 40 years of experience and I'm sure she will not hesitate to kick his butt into gear.  When we went in his classroom, she was very nice and brought Sam to his desk, telling him that she realizes it's sometimes hard to be a "new kid" and she put his desk right next to hers to make the transition a little easier. 
I think that made him feel better. 
He should do fine. 

Caroline is psyched to be back.  She is looking forward to being able to show Sam her school and help him. She is going to start playing the flute.  We'll see how that goes. 
We very purposefully try to keep activities limited to maximize our family time and we've already told her (repeatedly) that flute is another part of her daily homework now.  AND that we will NOT be reminding her to practice.  It is somethng she will need to do on her own. 
We'll see how that goes.
TBall will start for the older boys in a few weeks.  After being seriously underwhelmed by the quality of coaching and the price we had to pay for it with GVAA, we have switched back to the County League.  I'll be coaching again and both Sam and Nate will be on the same team.
Should be interesting.

In our "Farewell to Summer" Tour, yesterday we went back to the Big Slide and played at Loy's Station Covered Bridge up in Rocky Ridge. 
We're still recovering in the laundry department.
What wasn't saw-dusty from the slide was muddy from the creek.
A small price to pay.  We've only done 18 loads of laundry this week.
But I'm not counting.