Book 16

I finished book 16 Saturday morning just in time for book club:

People have raved about this book being revolutionary, and I just don't get it. It was a sweet story and nice affirmation: follow your own journey, if it's meant to be it will happen, it's about the journey not the destination. I can now say I have read it. That is all.
 

Book 15

I finally finished book 15:

All 731 pages of it:

I bought this book when Brad and I were in Maine years ago, but it was so big I kept waiting. I'm so glad I finally read it. It's the text that the Broadway show was based on, and you can see the threads. What was most interesting to be was that the cadence of Hamilton's letters matched the cadence of his speech in the show. He was certainly a flawed man, but he also was a brilliant statesman and a dedicated family man. I am so very glad I committed and actually finished this one!
 

Little Joys

I was supposed to have an all day meeting last Thursday, but it blissfully was cancelled. It was a true gift. I had been working super long days all week, our washing machine broke, and I was running on fumes going into a big weekend. I took it as a sign to use the day to do all of the things, starting with a trip to the blueberry patch.

 Berry picking was on Issa's pre-college list, and Evan opted to join, too:

We picked four quarts in less than an hour, and they are delicious! I managed to run to the grocery, and then went to Mom's to do laundry. We crossed a bunch of things off her list, including replacing the hood for refrigerator filter:

You can't tell in that picture that I am soaking wet, but we did it! We had turned off the main water line, but I had no idea how much water would be left in the line: a lot. We were very proud of ourselves at the end, though.

Thankfully, Brad was able to prepare the washer this weekend, and this week is busy but not nearly so many hours in the office. Onward!

 

To Atlanta and Back Again

Mom and I left Friday morning and drove to Atlanta for the weekend for Becca's shower! Shannon, Becca, and Aunt Carol joined us at Nick and Beth's house Friday night for some pizza and time to catch up. We played a small corn hole tournament:

I got progressively better:

It ended up with Nick and Beth winning the whole thing! Eric was pretty sure we needed to make a plaque to commemorate the moment. 

Saturday morning was the main event:

The shower was a brunch at a beautiful restaurant in Buckhead:

And it was good to see Becca's friends and family love her so well:

Monica came over for a visit Saturday afternoon, which was lovely.

The real bonus was a lot of extra time with Shannon! She barely made it in with the flight debacle on Friday, and it was not looking good yesterday for her return trip. So...she rode back to NC with us! She will skip the home leg of her trip and go straight to DC tomorrow, but it was nice to sneak in two more big family dinners--one out last night and one at our house tonight!
 

10/10 Recommend

We went back to the Life and Science Museum this weekend as part of our Summer Bucket List. I absolutely recommend taking your big kids back to their favorite little kid spots! We had a blast playing with old favorite exhibits and exploring all of the new things! Space was still a favorite:

The new sound exhibit was a super fun new addition:

The kids graciously recreated the farmyard picture:

Issa found a whole handful of shark teeth:

Evan and I loved watching the lemurs and the wolf pups:

We had a fabulous day recreating our little kids weekends--right down to lunch at the café. It was fun to just play again.

Yesterday, Issa and I went to see Inside Out 2:

If I ever teach adolescent development again, it will be required watching. It was so, so good!

We are also starting to get serious about the big college move and soaking in the last of summer. One more month!
 

New Skills

Issa addded a few new life skills to her list this week before she heads to college!

Sunday, she went to start her car, and it was dead. She navigated AAA completely independently, and they told us she needed a new battery. That is a little hard to do on a Sunday, but she got it done yesterday! Dad taught her to jump a car:

And then she took herself to the mechanic, told them what she needed (including an oil change, tire rotation, and state inspection), and got herself back on the road! She was a bit nervous about handling car stuff (just like me), but she did it like a pro and will be much more confident she can handle anything next year!
 

Worse Places to Grade

It has been a rough reintroduction to work. All of my students had projects due Sunday in all of my classes. I had an employee resign, and the building's AC is out. It's a lot.

This helped:

It is beastly hot, but my porch stays nice and cool. I spent a lot time out there grading, and it's much more peaceful to take tough phone calls from there.
 

Sophomore Season Begins

Evan spent the week before vacation wrestling. Monday through Thursday, he had team camp at he school. Friday, I drove he and some friends to Charlotte for a dual:

Since it's off-season, only nine kids were able to go. Last year, this same tournament was Evan's introduction to high school wrestling, and he learned a ton and got over some nerves. This year, he was so much more relaxed:

He also wrestled so much better! I recorded it for Brad, and he couldn't even believe the growth from the end of the season to this tournament. He's been working really hard at Black Dragon, and he's settling into his own style. It's fun to watch.

This also marked the return to my first high school tournament. The cute top and shoes were replaced with a team t-shirt and sneakers. I also brought food that was actually eaten.

The core memory for me, though, will be the drive home. They slept the whole way down, but the way back I had three of Evan's friends plus him who were wide awake and hysterical. Last year, I drove kids he didn't know--including one of the same kids I had this year. They were delirious. We drove through Bojangles, and I kid you not they played the quiet game until someone cracked and then they just howled with laughter. It was so funny. 

The smell was awful, but I'm so grateful I had that day with them.

 

Beach Week!

We had an absolute blast at Kure beach last week! We returned to the same house, which just makes vacationing so lovely. We know where everything is, and it's become a second home at this point. They had also made some very lovely upgrades to the kitchen and bathrooms. Evan was most excited by the addition of a shell basket:

In addition to great shells, he caught a bunch of these tiny crabs:

Issa stuck to her shells.

Another new addition this year was Kai for part of the week! They day he arrived, the three of us headed to the aquarium:

He loves aquariums as much as I do, and I had fun third wheeling with these two cuties:

Aunt Shannon also did a whole photoshoot for them:

He headed home Wednesday, but the whole family went back to the aquarium Thursday:

The otters will always be my favorite, but I was also delighted by the horseshoe crabs this trip:

Friday we finally managed to get our beach tent perfect:

It was a whole family beach day:

And for the first time ever I went to the beach without getting a sunburn!

Aunt Shannon gifted the kids Lego sets to build throughout the week. This car about took Evan out:

It has so many moving parts! Notre Dame was shockingly not bad, though:

Our last night there we headed to the beach for some family pictures:

This may be my favorite sibling picture ever:

And Brad and I were laughing so hard because the ocean surprised me:

The whole week was filled with small delights: family card games, dinners around the table, new books, porch naps. Time to just be. It was such a gift.