September Happenings

Megan and Jessica have done a few birthday parties as Elsa and Anna from Frozen. They love doing it, and it's a great way to earn some spending cash. 

I've tried to take advantage of Michael's Wednesdays off school to have some FUN with him and his friends. We've been to the zoo, the botanical garden, the park, played tennis, and gone hiking. We've also enjoyed our new dirt and all the fun that comes from tractors in the dirt!

The kids cashed in the last of their summer Baird bucks for their own containers of ice cream. See Michael's face paint? These kids love to play Native American Indians and dress up outside. 

September is Megan's birthday and we celebrated by taking some of her friends to dessert at the Melting Pot. We had a great time enjoying fondue, laughing, and celebrating sweet Megan. 

We had crazy hair day at the Elementary school and had fun getting our crazy on. But the best crazy of my September was watching Megan in the dressing room when I took the girls clothes shopping. He had some mad ninja skills as he watched himself in the mirror!

Brooke and Megan went with their friends to the high school homecoming dance. Fun to get dressed up, go out to dinner, and go to the dance with their friends.

First Day of School

I'm so glad my high school kids still humor me with first day of school pictures! These kids were excited, anxious, hesitant, sad, and happy all at once about going back to school. They were happy to be with friends, but after such a great summer they were all a little sad to head back to homework and schedules. 

Michael started preschool a week after the kids started school, and it was SUCH a long week for him. He was excited and anxious to go to school, and he missed all the action here at home. I love, love, love having my kids home, but I'll be honest that this was the selfie I took to celebrate the first two quiet hours in my home after I got back from dropping Michael off. There is something about peace and quiet in my own home that is so refreshing after a summer of crazy fun. Looking forward to an amazing school year for these kids!

Labor Day Hike

I couldn't bear going back to school without one more family outing, so despite the heat on Labor Day, we went to Riverbend Park in the morning and hiked along the Potomac River. It's a perfect short hike for a family ... flat, scenic and shady with plenty of rocks to scramble on and places to stop and enjoy the river. Ludlows came with us and we had a great morning hiking. I especially loved that a few of us put on our new BYU shirts and Evan and Natalie came and made sure we all changed and got our Cougar shirts on. And don't you love Natalie hiking in her skirt? She loves to wear skirts!

And of course we ended our hike with our favorite new treat ... Duck Donuts that remind us of the Outer Banks but can now be found near our home. Perfect outing before returning to schedules and school!