Back to School

The kids weren't looking forward to going back to school, but I was.  We all need the structure and schedules.  I took Caitlyn and Jonah to the High School to pay their fees and get their chrome books.  Jonah was not happy about taking a picture, but I had to get one last picture of the two of them in High School together. 

Jonah let me snap a quick picture before he walked out the door on the first day of school.  Kyle drives him to school and he loves that. He was in a good mood after school, so I think he enjoyed it.  He loves the social aspect of school. He's excited to take some auto mechanics classes this year.

Caitlyn said I could take lots of pictures of her.  She is pretty excited to be a senior.

Caitlyn loves being able to drive herself to school. She is going to do an internship at a hospital this year, so it's nice that she can get herself there.  She is taking a lot of college classes this year.  It will be a lot of work, but she can do it.

Caitlyn came home for lunch on the first day and just broke down crying.  The poor girl was so overwhelmed.  She had a couple of Distance Learning classes that she decided weren't a good fit after she learned more about them.  Thank goodness for Deanna, she helped Caitlyn get her schedule changed.  Caitlyn also felt sad because most of her friends graduated last year, so she felt alone at school.  I listened and helped her figure out how we could solve some of the problems. I'm glad she has the car and can come home for lunch every day.

The second day of school went much better for Caitlyn.  It will take some time to adjust, but I think she is feeling much better about things. 

Keith took the kids to Back to School night while I was hanging out with Matt. Hallee has Mr. Thorn this year and is thrilled that Trinity is in her class. 

Wyatt has Mrs. Norris and is thrilled that Dallin and Eddie are in his class.  

The kids had short days all week because we had parent teacher conference that week. It is really bizarre to go to a parent teacher conference on the first day of school. I did enjoy meeting Wyatt's teacher though, she seems really good.  She had Wyatt fill out a paper about himself and what he wanted to learn this year.  She thought it was pretty funny that he wrote down that he wanted to learn the quadratic formula.  Jonah had Mr. Thorn, so I already know him. 

5th and 6th grade for these two. I can't believe they are almost done with elementary school.

Hallee was excited to go back to school.  She loves school.

Wyatt says school is long and boring.  He thinks he already knows everything, but I told him I think he will be surprised how with many new things he learns this year.

Hallee sure looks grown up and so cute! She loved school.

Wyatt likes his teacher and doesn't complain about going to school, so I'm happy with that.

They did a red carpet for the kids this year.  I got a picture when we went for our parent teacher conference.

We ran into Mrs. Hafen in the hall.  She came over to talk to Hallee and tell her how much she misses her.  She is such an amazing teacher.  I'm so glad Hallee had her and I wish she could have her again! Mrs. Hafen told me how sweet it was that Wyatt and his friends brought the teachers soda the day before. They bought soda and were going to sell it at the park, but no one was at the park so they decided to go over to the school and give it out to the teachers who were there preparing for the first day of school.  They are such sweet boys.

Lagoon

Keith had his company Lagoon day a couple of weeks ago.  Jonah didn't want to come so we let Caitlyn bring a friend.

She invited Grace.  These two don't see each other a lot, but they always have a great time together when they do. I can't believe how grown up they are.  I met Allison when we moved into the townhomes and Caitlyn and Grace were only one-year-old. 

I love this picture of Caitlyn, she is such a beauty!

Caitlyn and Grace went off and rode all the big rides and Keith and I took Hallee and Wyatt around.  They wanted to start with Bombora.

Hallee wanted to go on the Bat.  She was so proud of herself for going on it last year and wanted to do it again.  This ride is not made for big breasted women, it was so uncomfortable, but worth it to go with Hallee.

Keith and Wyatt rode the bumper cars while Hallee and I went to the bathroom and then we all rode the space scrambler.

It was fun to ride it with Keith.  

Wyatt and Keith went to get a snack while I took Hallee on the merry-go-round.

Hallee was so excited about every ride.  

After that we went on the train.  After the train we went over and had lunch. It is so nice that Vasayo provides lunch and covers our parking, it's so nice to have a completely free day.

It wasn't as hot as it has been which was so nice, but we were hot so after lunch we went to Lagoon-A-Beach.

The water felt great and it cooled us off.

Hallee and Wyatt had fun playing in the lazy river together.

It started raining while we were in the water and before long it was pouring.  We brought ponchos because we knew it was supposed to rain.  Caitlyn and Grace were in line for a ride so they rode that and then they started shutting rides down, but they kept the roller coaster open.  They went and rode the roller coaster and we waited in the car for them.  They were dripping wet.  Caitlyn was in jeans so even if it stopped raining I don't think she ever would have dried off.  We decided to call it a day and head home.  It was nice to get home early and have the evening to relax. 

Wrapping up Summer Break

The last half of summer break went by much faster than the first half.  We only ended up going to Katie's a few times this summer.  We were all glad we could go one more time before school started.

Hallee was so excited to see their new dog.  She is a cutie. 

This summer has been so hot.  The only way to be outside is if you are in the water.

Wyatt wanted to carry their dog around like he carries Jackson, she is a bit bigger than Jackson.

Grandma came and took Wyatt and Hallee out for a birthday treat.  She also took Amarie and Caitlyn out for frozen yogurt.  My kids love their grandma time.

I thought it was funny that Jonah was eating three cup of noodles for lunch.

Wyatt said he was having some separation anxiety from me and Keith at night so he taped up pictures of us on his ceiling so he could look at them at night.  I thought that was so sweet.

Hallee put every sock she owns on her foot for fun! Can you tell we were going a little stir crazy?

Hallee gave us makeovers.  Aren't we cute?

We went to Beck's for dinner a few Sundays ago.  Hallee brought her handcuffs so her and Kenzie could play police like they did at our house.  They are so cute.

Me and Caitlyn hung out with Mel and the girls on Caitlyn's day off every week.

They came up here a few times and we went out there a few times.  Caitlyn and I stopped for Rita's on our way home one time.  It was so good!

Hallee went to work with Keith for the afternoon while we were at Mel's.  She thought that was so fun.

Hallee finished up her summer dance class.  They did a little performance on the last day of class.  

Hallee loved her teacher and she loved having Amanda in her class.

Wyatt loves to play the old Super Nintendo with Keith.

Jonah lived it up for the last week of summer.  He went to a few pool parties and he and his friends dressed up for a draft night for their fantasy football league.  He is the one in the hat and sunglasses.

Matt came back into town to help mom and dad clean up after Dante moved out.  I'm so relived and grateful that he moved out.  Tiff found him a room to rent and dad paid for it for three months.  I'm so excited for mom and dad to have peace in their home and the freedom of being empty nesters.  I worry about Dante and hope he will make a good life for himself, but I know that my parents have done all they can for him.  I pray he will find happiness.  We all went over and helped clean up his room after he left and then move out a lot of mom and dad's furniture that they were getting rid of.  That night they treated us to Leatherby's as a thank you. I loved having Matt in town again and got to go up there a few times while he was here.

Mom and dad gave us their recliners.  We are all enjoying them.

We also took their sofa bed that they were getting rid of.  Keith has been working so hard clearing out the shed and moving things into the garage to make this more of a hang out place for the kids.  We have the weight bench and punching bag in there.  Keith got his monitor from work and Wyatt and Hallee love to hang out in there now that we have a couch out there. 

Caitlyn worked a lot this summer, but we all loved it when she was home, especially Hallee.  She is so good about spending time with Hallee.