Just Like That

Summer is over!  Ryan went back to the local high school yesterday.  He was eager to get back to band. The first 3 hours of his day are in band.  The rest of his day is AP Literature, Honors Pre Calculus, US History, and Anatomy/Physiology.  He will be very busy with 3 evening band rehearsals, football games, and band competitions.  Here we go!

Grace, Trevor and I still have until August 10th before we launch our new adventure of online school.  I have been attending online training for the computer system that I must learn.  I feel well supported and ready.  We are working on getting our desks ready.  I purged a bunch of things.  Yay!

We have also continued to ride our bikes at least 25 miles a week.  The humidity has made riding a challenge, but we are not allowing it to stop us.  Last Saturday we rode over 12 miles on a trail in a town half an hour away with my parents.  I hope we can go back soon.

The garden is growing.  We cannot eat all the cherry tomatoes, so Jeff took some in to the office today.  I like that kind of problem.  I am hoping the big tomatoes will ripen soon, but not all at once.  The cucumbers have slowed way down.  I enjoyed making refrigerator pickles.

We went with Mom on an adventure to find our great grandparent's graves.  It had been awhile since we had been there, most likely when Grandpa died in the late 80's!  It is kind of far away, and we just don't get out there.  They are  in Heaven, anyway.  But it is nice to see that the graves are looked after.

Hope your summer is going well!

Sweet Sixteen

This past Sunday and Tuesday we celebrated our Grace's sixteenth birthday.  Sunday was her family party. Tuesday was her actual birthday.  We seem to have gotten away from the friends party, probably because her friends live an hour north.  We did try to arrange a friends outing up north, but it did not work out. We are still working on making new friends here.  :)

Sunday's party was grand!  Her grandmother made her this beautiful angel food cake from scratch.  It was amazingly well decorated.  We had such a feast, too, and lots of presents.

Tuesday, we met Daddy for lunch at Chick fil A near his office.  We also made a library stop, and she spent a big gift card at a craft store.  She picked out marinated lemon pepper chicken, watermelon, salad, and cupcakes for her birthday dinner.  We rented Monster's University, and took a 5 mile bike ride, such a lovely day!

I am so proud of the young lady she is becoming. The Lord has big plans for this sweet girl.  

A Lovely Vacation

That old saying is true.  Ten days off really fly by when you are having fun.

Our vacation this year was part stay-cation, a camping cabin at Lake Michigan for a couple nights, all book-ended by two 10 mile bike rides with my parents, and a professional soccer game. I think we made the most of our time off!

The cabin was tiny, but very cozy, and kept us dry, because it rained a bit each day.

Here we are with coats on the beach.  It was so windy.  I felt like I was being sand-blasted.

It was easier to walk behind the dunes, and so pretty.

No kidding.  So glad no one was trying to swim in those waves.

This week is dedicated to serving at VBS for my younger two while spending the week at grandparents, and a first week of band camp for the oldest.  Me, well, I am catching up on things around the place, getting ready for school to start in a few weeks.  Jeff is back to his work.  

This life is lived mostly in the middles, between the highs of vacation.  It's the ordinary days that count most.  And, we have been blessed.