Labor Day at the Beach

We debated even going to the beach over Labor Day after everything that was going on with Grandma.  I didn't want to leave my dad to grieve alone.  He insisted on us going-- and I am really glad he did.  They weren't planning on coming down, but then felt like being with family was the best kind of medicine so everyone ended up meeting at the beach to be together-- and it turned out to be a good weekend.

I managed to hit quite a bit of traffic leaving town.  Finally when the traffic opened up, Andy fell asleep.  

Friday night, the kids played legos with Uncle Chris for a while.  Chris is a lego fool and Jackson has just started getting into them with his dad.  Cal was really interested in them...but only if Chris would play with him-- made me happy!

 

Chris is a dog lover like me so he got to spend some time loving on Bruce that first night....

Saturday morning we woke up with a text from my dad that Grandma had passed.  I wanted some time to reflect on it all so I headed to the store (I had both boys with me...not much reflecting going on, but I got to think about Grandma a bunch).  The sun was breaking through some clouds and these little rays were shining down-- made me feel like Grandma was watching over us.

After hitting the store, we went over to the beach for a bit to get some of the energy out.  This little guy loooves the beach! He had a great time there digging in the sand.

It was a little overcast to start the day, but it didn't stop these guys from playing hard...

 I think this is their happy place...

We had some friends who were down at the beach for the weekend come over to spend some time with us-- and we had a great time! We went out in the sound and wake boarded and kayaked around.  It was a fabulous afternoon spent with great friends.

Sunday morning, Cal woke up early and asked if Uncle Chris would play legos with him again... he had been thinking about it non-stop! How sweet is this picture?? Their conversation they were having was priceless too. 

We went to the beach Sunday and enjoyed the sun with our best cousins...

When we came back for lunch, Cal was ready to spend some time loving on Bruce.  These two are buddies already!

 Might be framing this one too...

 Sunday afternoon we went out in the sound and soaked in the last bit of summer.  It was heaven!

Eddie kayaked home and got Bruce so we could teach him how to swim out in the sound.

 Bruce did great! He loved being in the water and I foresee many many more times for him swimming around!

We came back to the house and there was a little birthday singing for yours truly and the kids ate some cupcakes.

Monday, we cleaned up and loaded the cars to head home! 

It was a great weekend spent with family and friends.  And that's what life is all about.

See ya later, summer.  Take the heat with you.



 

what.a.week

Last week was CRAZY. CUH-RAZY.

In a (long) nutshell:

Monday:
Taught popup in the morning, took boys to pool in the afternoon. While at the pool, got a call from my dad that my grandma wasn't going well.  She hasn't been doing well for a while, but she was doing worse...and doctors weren't sure how much longer she would make it.  Eddie was out of town so I frantically texted every sitter I knew until I found one who could come over for an hour so I could run up and spend some time saying goodbye to grandma.  It was terrible and hard and awful, but I am so thankful I got to say goodbye to her.

Tuesday:
I had my first day of teacher workshops on Tuesday morning -- so I spent my time from 8:30-12:30 organizing, planning, laminating, cutting and working hard to get our classroom ready for our little mice! It was a fun and tiring day....but I am really loving it!
Tuesday night I taught my popup class outside...it wasn't too too hot out and actually felt good!

Wednesday:
We were up a ton in the night with Hank getting sick.  This has happened to him before a few times (one of the times landed us at the emergency vet....).  He has something wrong with his pancreas and when he eats something that upsets his tummy, he vomits nonstop until he gets an IV. 

The boys and I worked all morning and then left school and came home to pick up Bruce, who had a puppy check up at the vet at 2:00. 

 Bruce is in my lap in the above picture...

Bruce at the vet:

 He wasn't too sure what to think of it all...

The boys were wild in the room- and Bruce just sat there watching them....

Bruce's check up was all good-- no concerns for him! But it took about an hour once we were taken back, weighed in and saw the vet.  I mentioned to the vet that I needed to get Hank in to get an IV again and she insisted that we bring him in that day, right away.

So, we headed home, dropped off Bruce and picked up Hank! My iPads were both dead or I would have brought them for entertainment.  I loaded up my purse with treats for the boys...

They were good for about 5 minutes....

And then everyone got tired...

Oh yeah, we are sitting on the floor of the vet office.  I don't want to think about how dirty the floor is there....

It took a looooong time for Hank to get his IV.  A Loooooong time! By the time we headed home, we spent close to 3 hours at the vet.  Such a fun way to spend an afternoon!

And my poor boys spent the morning at school trying realllly hard to be good while I worked-- they were ready to be wild!

Thursday:

Once again, we headed into school in the morning (thank goodness I am only teaching 2 days a week-- it was HARD getting everyone ready and out the door for work on time!).
I did stop this morning and take a picture of my new necklaces from my mother in law....I looove me some Kendra Scott! The little one on top says "Cal Andy" with a heart in the middle.

These two were looking for trouble on this day.... they just wanted to tackle and rough house.  Let's all be thankful they aren't in the same class.  

Thursday afternoon, Cal had tennis practice.  He loves tennis and was really excited to do it again.  I brought Bruce to practice so he could get out of the house a little and visit with some friends. 

 I took only one picture, but Bruce had a BIG time with all the kids-- he loved the attention!

Thursday after tennis, Cal went to play golf with Eddie.  I was going to take a workout class that night, but was not really feeling it-- grandma wasn't doing well and really, it had been day by day since Monday.  We were all pretty exhausted from pouncing on the phone each time it made a noise, thinking that it was "the call" or "the text" with the news. 

My cousin was able to come to town to say her goodbyes and we ended up going to dinner randomly Thursday night-- my brother brought Jackson, I brought Andy, my mom had two friends in from out of town and my aunt, dad, mom, cousin...it was a big group and these two had a blast together:

I am sad that my grandma wasn't doing well, but I am thankful that it brought us all together.  We were able to talk about her and celebrate her together as a family.  

Friday:

I was back at it again Friday at school-- the last day to get stuff done for school! We made a ton of progress and really focused on lesson planning and prepping supplies.  We did a staff picture:

Andy put on a show:

After work on Friday, I headed to the beach.  Eddie took Bruce and I took the boys and Hank.  Thankfully, Andy took a snooze.... 

Grandma passed away Friday night/Saturday morning. It was sad, of course...but has my dad says, the process was a lot sadder than the end result-- watching a loved one pass away is awful. 

We all met up at the beach to spend time together celebrating Grandma.  That post is coming next!




 

Weekend Update

We had a fun and busy weekend!

I taught a boat load of popup classes this week-- Tuesday night at 7, Wednesday morning at 6, Friday at 9:30 and Saturday at 9... I was worn out by the weekend, but I love the classes so it was fun!

Friday night, we had Brad and Will's birthday party! They had a magician come and the kids all thought it was amazing!

Well, of course Andy was terrified and clung to my arm crying until the show was over.  Then he let me know he was all good:

After the show, he found the veggie tray and made himself at home digging in to the goodies:

Soon, Jane came and joined them.  He loves a girl who loves green!

Cal had a blast at the party.  In his favor bag, he had some pop rocks-- his first ones!!- and he thoroughly enjoyed them! (see pic below-- face is covered, shirt is covered....and, can you tell he's tired?!)

After the party, we went upstairs and ate outside with some friends while the kids played.  They were MORE than ready for bed when we got home!




Saturday morning we were up early-- Andy is still not sleeping though the night (sigh) and it woke up Bruce...who is sleeping through the night just fine without anyone waking him up!

Bruce has taken a liking to Hank...

While I went to teach my class, Eddie took the boys to teeball! It was the last game of the season...and only our second one! We had been rained out many times and out of town the other times...oh well! They had fun while they were there... 

Both boys got a medal...even though Andy didn't participate much (at all), he was THRILLED to get a medal!

Eddie brought the boys home and then went to play golf.  I took the boys to the pool for the rest of the day and then we came home for baths-- Bruce helped! 

After much hard playing, he crashed...hard!

Sunday we headed to church... I really wanted a picture of the 4 boys...and I love these!!! I will be framing them for sure!

After church, we had lunch and then came home for a quick change of clothes.  Eddie and the boys went to play a little golf and I played with Bruce then headed to the pool...all by myself!!! I was there solo about an hour and it was fabulous!!!

Then the boys came and played so hard- Andy is back to swimming now and it just wears him out... he fell asleep before we were out of the pool neighborhood!

Sunday night, we watched Bruce continue to attack Hank...you tell me he isn't a goooood dog. 

Annnd, come Sunday night, we were ALL exhausted!!!

Here's to a goooood week!