Man, our summer went by too quickly as usual. Now that we are settling back into our school routine, I thought I would do a camera dump from our summer. This picture is actually from our annual pool party on the last day of school. Joey invited Matias, Chloe is a given, and Ellie invited Mila, a girl from her class who also happens to live in our neighborhood.

At the beginning of August we went to visit our good friend Miss Margie. She lives a little far away from us and in an area we never go to unless we're visiting her. As we were driving there, it dawned on me that she lives somewhat close to where Andy and I got married. It used to be called Natural Reflections, but now the name is Paradise Falls. I haven't been there in years, and I've never taken the kids there. After lunch with Miss Margie, we stopped by to look around.

A lot has changed since a new owner took over the place a few years ago. They still have a gazebo where we got married, it just looks a lot different. Joey, Hannah and Ellie reenacted the vows.

We found the bridal cottage in the same place as before, but it had definitely had a makeover.

The kids had a nice time exploring the grounds, and I had a nice time strolling down memory lane.

I blasted through the Indiana posts because I knew today was coming...the first day of school! This year we have a sixth grader (middle schooler!), 1st grader and 4th grader.

The kids' emotions ranged from complete excitement to dread and nervousness. 

Ellie's teacher, Mrs. Delliquadri, is new to our school this year so we didn't know her at all. At the end of the day Ellie declared she has the nicest teacher at school.

Hannah has two teachers this year that are job sharing because they both had babies last year. Joey had Mrs. Sherlock (on the left) two years ago so Hannah was excited about that. Mrs. Schmid was a middle school math teacher last year so we don't know her, but we've heard wonderful things.

Ellie was more on the wildly excited side of life about school, but she did get a little nervous when it was time to go into the class. She got a little teary when I told her that I couldn't walk in with her, but I helped her get in line, and she got it together quickly.

Cameron's mom snapped this picture of the girls on the first day. They are so excited that now that they are in first and second grade they have recess together.

Another mom took this picture of Joey and a couple of his middle school friends, Braden and Joseph. All of the middle schoolers were busy before school figuring out where their classes were or which of their friends were in which class.

I didn't get a picture of these two besties before school, so I got one of them after their walk home. Walking home with your best friend sure makes the time go quickly!

Everyone had a great first day of school, even the kid dreading it. I already miss summer so much, but it's nice to get back into the swing of school.

Updated to add these two pictures the girls made on the first day of school...

More Bashminton. See? We did let the kids play sometimes.

Sunday morning we had a little photo shoot before church.

Michael was sweet enough to take all the kids out for donuts on Saturday morning. I love how they are all still in their pajamas!

Friday morning we went to a creek near the Gallo's house.

On Thursday, we drove almost three hours to visit Lake Michigan in St. Joseph, MI. Rachel heard it was a good beach, and it was extra special for me because that's where I was born! We left the two little Gallos behind and drove up first thing in the morning. 

We have been looking forward all summer to our trip to Indiana to visit my sister and brother and their families. Actually, the kids have been looking forward to our trip since last summer when we first decided to make it a family vacation. You've never heard kids so excited to tell people that we were going to Indiana! Well, the day finally arrived and we off we flew!

Our sweet friends, the Magills, moved across the country at the beginning of August. It was so sad for us to say goodbye to them. They have had a special place in our hearts (and laps) ever since Eliya was less than a year old!

We had the four kids over one day the week before they left so that their mom could pack, and we could have some more time with them before they left. 

We went to the pool after nap time and then came home and had dinner. The kids ate in their underwear outside to make clean up easier. Then I got them into their jammies, and their mom picked them up. They are such happy, sweet kids. It's always a joy to have them over. It's extra great when my kids are around because they are so good with little ones.

As a goodbye present, the Magills gave us the game Ticket to Ride. We had never played it before so we pulled it out the next day and had a great time playing. I love how it will remind us of the Magills every time we play!

I normally don't blog about my birthday, but I happened to have a few pictures from it so I thought it warranted its own post. I had been meaning to invite my friend Heidi and her kids over to our pool, so we found a day that worked for both of us and it just happened to be on my birthday. I didn't think she would know, but thanks to her checking Facebook that morning she found out. Then she went all out. She had pizza delivered to the pool for lunch, and had this "bouquet" of fruit delivered as well. I felt so spoiled!

After the pool, we came home and had such a lovely, relaxing afternoon. Hannah and I read our books (Joey got me hooked on the Wings of Fire series), while the other kids sweetly played games. (Joey finally found someone else who actually enjoys playing Monopoly!)

I told Andy I didn't want anything big for my birthday, but if the kids wanted to get me something they could get my favorite candy. I wasn't expecting this much candy, but they did nail all of my favorites and then some!

That weekend, my parents had us over for dinner for my birthday. They invited Andy's parents to come over as well.

We ended the night with angel food cake, strawberries and whip cream...my favorite!

I meant to post this a while ago, but these pictures are from a "photo shoot" for Hannah's All-Star softball team. They did the photo shoot so that they could make a team banner to put up at games. I love all the "tough" faces.

The day after we got back from the Angels game, I got a text from Andy's dad saying that he had an extra Padres ticket for the following day and wanted to take one of the kids. Joey already had plans and Ellie doesn't love baseball games, so it worked out perfectly for Hannah to go. 

Papa J bought Joey and Ellie Angels hats at the Angels game, but Hannah couldn't find one that she liked in her size. It ended up working out well that she waited because she found a Padres hat that she loved.

Papa J texted me these pictures with the caption "Take Your Granddaughter to Work Day."

One of the highlights of the game was when they shot up foam baseballs into the stands and a guy near Hannah got it and gave it to her. 

Another highlight was when Hannah made it up on the JumboTron! Cutest Padres fan at the game!

While the kids were having a blast at Camp Nana, Andy and I had a wonderful time at home. On Saturday, after I dropped the kids off at my parents' house and while I was running errands, Andy texted me and said, "We have to paint the bathrooms."

We had recently gotten the cabinets painted and new floors put in both bathrooms upstairs. We also put in new light fixtures. Our big bathroom mirror was getting discolored around the edges, so instead of spending $450 to have a new mirror installed, I found a blog post about putting a frame around a mirror. I thought it would be an easy project, and sent Andy to buy all of the supplies at Home Depot. When he got home, he realized it was too much white with our white walls. Hence the text about painting our walls. That text cracked me up because Andy hates painting and loves white walls. I realized the situation must be dire to make him want to paint.

I got back from my errands, we quickly picked out a paint color (hooray for Google searches like "best blue/gray paint color"), and I ran off to Home Depot to get the paint while Andy started prepping the two bathrooms. Twenty-four hours later we had the two bathrooms painted and our frame up. There were still some minor details that needed to be worked on, but overall our mission was complete! The kids were really excited to see their new bathroom when they got home. Joey said, "Our bathroom went from being awful to being awesome!"

My only regret about our bathroom project is not getting a "before" picture. I found a few old pictures that I took of the bathroom that kind of give the "before" idea:

(I took this picture a couple of years ago after Andy took down the glass shower door that I intensely disliked. You can see our old cabinets and floor.)

(I took this picture a few weeks ago to get an estimate on a new bathroom mirror. You can see our old light fixture and the discoloration around the mirror.)

And here's the after:

Master bathroom.

Kids' bathroom.

In addition to the spontaneous bathroom project, we got our carpets cleaned, I did some deep cleaning and then read a book called Me, Myself and Bob. (so good!)

Andy and I also went out for dinner every night, which has become our tradition the last couple of years when the kids are gone. My favorite night is the night we walk down to Mr. Taco and sit out on the patio.

My mom texted me while the kids were gone that she had been praying with Hannah and Ellie at bedtime and prayed that Andy and I would have fun and have a good time together. After the prayer Ellie said, "I don't know about having fun..I don't know what they could be doing." Ha! We managed to have just a bit of fun without the kids.

A couple of weeks ago, my kids had their annual week with my parents. This is one of everyone's favorite weeks of the summer! My parents sent me a bunch of pictures from the week. 

My dad has been on a pretzel-making kick lately, so the girls got to get in on the action. Hannah LOVES soft pretzels, especially fresh homemade ones.

Last weekend, Phish came to town. Just like in 2016, Andy decided to go to two concerts by himself. This time both concerts were at the Forum in LA.