This year, our "first day of school" looked very different than other years. Over the course of the past school year, we decided that all three kids would return to the Classical Academy that they started going to last year. Even though we're with the same school, it will be very different from last year. Last year Joey and Hannah were both on "C-track" which meant they were exclusively home schooled. This year, both kids made it into tracks where they get to go in person as much as possible. 

Joey is in ninth grade this year at Classical Academy High School. He goes to school in person Tuesdays-Fridays. He also joined the school's water polo team. He had never played before, but really loves it. He's also found that it's helping him make new friends easier. 

Joey was the first one to start in person this year.

Hannah's school opening was delayed by a few days due to some construction at her campus, so she had a couple of days of Zoom. I was a little bummed for her, but it ended up being a nice way to get to see her teachers and classmates without masks before she went to school in person. 

About a week after Joey started, her campus opened back up. Can you tell she was a little excited? She's at Classical Academy Middle School in 7th grade. Hannah will be at school Tuedays-Thursdays this year. She's really excited about having three days at school, but still two days at home. Out of all of the kids, she most liked the flexibility of getting to work on assignments at her own pace at home.

Two down, one to go...

Finally, it was Ellie's turn. Ellie's school year will look the most like last year, except she's finally going back for full days instead of half days. Ellie is at the elementary school, which only goes in person two days a week. She's on "B-track" so she goes Wednesdays and Fridays, just like last year. She was very excited to get back to school and see all of her friends.

So, we kind of had three "first days of school" this year. Our schedule is a little crazy with the three kids at three different schools on three different schedules. We also added in five sports teams because we are crazy: Joey is playing water polo for school, and has preseason basketball practices, Hannah is playing volleyball for school, and both girls are doing rec. soccer through AYSO. Despite all of the craziness, the schedule is working out, mostly because the Lord is gracious and found me a carpool for all the water polo practices and games (Joey has water polo five-six times a week). In my mind, I just have a new job this year, and it's driving my kids all over the place. In a lot of ways it's much more pleasant than subbing, the pay is just not as good! ;-)

I had to share this picture. Joey got his new ASB card for school, and then he pulled out his old one from Double Peak. Its' so weird to think that that's what he looked like the last time he actually went to school in person. It's going to be really weird to see his senior ASB card compared to his freshman one. That may make me weep. ;-)

 

We flew home from Indiana Tuesday morning, and my parents flew home late that night. In order to squeeze in Camp Nana before school, I dropped the kids off the very next day. Now that my dad is retired, it was officially "Camp Nana and Bubba." 

The kids requested a repeat of their favorite Camp Nana meal, a smorgasbord of delicious meats, potatoes, vegetables, bread, and cheese using the raclette grill. 

Really their favorite part is making S'mores on the grill afterwards.

The marshmallows get nice and toasty in the little pans.

The kids played games,

did puzzles (a favorite of Hannah's),

and painted!

Here are the final results.

This year, Joey brought his electric bike and the three of them went on a 25 mile bike ride. They loved it!

Ellie, very happy NOT to be on a 25 mile bike ride, took the dogs for a walk with Nana in Hosp Grove.

Although they didn't get any pictures, they went to the beach every day they were there. And for a special treat one night, they went out for frozen yogurt.

Meanwhile, Andy and I enjoyed Camp Nana almost as much as the kids. It really is one of my favorite times of the year. For being an extrovert, I LOVE being alone. With Covid, I haven't really been alone in a year and a half! It was so nice to get some projects done around the house, and have some quiet time before our upcoming crazy school/sports schedule. This year my projects were to get the carpets cleaned (I do this every year during Camp Nana), straighten up and declutter the garage, make Resurrection eggs for our Sunday school class (our old set accidentally got thrown away), order all of our Halloween costumes (we're doing a family theme that we've been wanting to do for a few years now), clean our washing machine (I actually had the repair guy come and take it apart so I could clean out the inside), and a bunch of other little things here and there.

Andy and I tried a restaurant that was new to us called Freddy's Frozen Custard and Steakburgers. Maybe I was just extra hungry, but it was so, so good! 

For our last day in Carmel, Rachel scheduled a tour of the capitol building in Indianapolis.

The tour was only about 30-45 minutes, so it was a great length for the kids. We learned that the Indianapolis capitol building is one of only eight capitols in the country that houses the executive, legislative, and judicial branches of the state government. This was the room where the state Senate meets.

And this was the House of Representatives.

Our whole crew. My mom and dad stayed home to get some work done on their new house.

The girls wore their matching shirts.

After our tour, we walked a little in downtown Indy.

There are these really pretty canals that you can walk by. We walked to the "Colts Canal Playspace," and the kids ran around playing for a while. Unfortunately the weather didn't cooperate, and it started sprinkling. The radar looked like we might get dumped on, so we hightailed it to a restaurant for lunch.

Our group was too big for one table, so these kiddos got to sit by themselves a few tables away from us. Joey thought it was funny to order food and then bill it to "the table in the back" (the adult table).

That night we had dinner at my parents' house. Good news! We all still fit around the table!

I love this post-bath picture.

Ellie requested that we play Mafia/Werewolf with everybody after dinner. Sometimes I forget how fun that game is. That night ended up being one of my highlights from our whole trip. It was also nice having us all together, although we did miss Timmy and Jill! We had another wonderful time in Carmel!

 

We had a fun little photo shoot before church on Sunday. Eight matching(ish) outfits...I'm sure this will never happen again, but it was so cute!

For now, their age order is still their height order: 14, 12, 9, 8, 6, 4, 2, 0.

Nana and Bubba with their grandkids. 

I definitely missed the memo about the blue color scheme!

A neighbor walking by took this picture of all of us.

After church, Ben and Joey spent some time walking around the neighborhood playing Pokemon Go.

My sweet sister-in-law, Christina, drove to Carmel and arrived Sunday afternoon. Later that evening, Benjamin arrived from Georgia. He was down there for two weeks for a music retreat, and the timing was perfect for him to come back up and spend the next two nights in Carmel.

Speaking of my brother, my other brother Timmy got married on August 2nd in Boulder, Colorado. After dating for nine years, Timmy and Jill decided to elope. 

They each had one friend come: one was the officiant and the other was the photographer. We all zoomed together with the newlyweds on our first day in Carmel.

In other great family news, while Benjamin and Christina were in town, they told the Gallo kids that Christina is pregant (the rest of us already knew). She is due in February. We've all been praying for them to have a baby for many years, so it was an especially wonderful announcement. After they told the kids, Ben hugged them both and said, "I'm not hugging two of you, I'm hugging three of you!" It was precious!

Sunday night was Andy's last Phish concert. Overall, he saw them play sixty different songs, and had a wonderful time!

 

There was a lot of cuddling during our trip to Indiana...

and some wrestle-cuddling...

and even more, just straight up wrestling. 

Joey did this really funny game with the kids where he had them all lay down and then demanded they do things (like sing) or they would get tickled. Sometimes he changed it up, and promised to tickle one of their siblings if they did what he told them to do. The kids all loved it.

Joey also really loved getting to hold James a lot.

Saturday morning we went back to Cool Creek, but this time to a place called Flowing Waters.

The kids loved exploring and finding and catching little fish.

A few of us played this rock game where you had to throw rocks across the creek and land it on a ledge. It was quite fun and addicting! 

Joey was very happy with this big walking stick he found.

My sister took this picture when we got back from the creek, and it cracked me up!

Rachel did Ellie's hair again, but this time in this punk, Star Wars-ish style. Ellie loved it.

We spent a lot of time on Saturday watching YouTube clips from the Tokyo Olympics. It was a fun way to see some great highlights. I hadn't watched any of the 2021 Olympics before that.

Later that afternoon, Michael took Ben and Joey to see the movie, "In the Heights," while Rachel and I took the three girls shopping. We had gotten them matching t-shirts three years ago, and wanted to find another matching set. My girls are pickier than three years ago, but we managed to find these that they all liked.

That evening, Andy went back to Phish for his second concert. He got there early again, but this time instead of reading, he ended up sitting near some chatty guys. Small talk is not Andy's favorite activity, but Phish fans are an interesting bunch, so he was definitely entertained.

And it was another great concert!