Ben, Laura, Ted & Sophie: august 2018

August. August was hot? Or rainy? Or neither. Gosh, I don't remember. But what I do remember is that we had several weeks after getting back from Rockbridge before school started. The only thing that was hard was that I had major catching up to do work wise. But I also have this mentality that I need to make sure summer goes out with a huge bang! It's a hard way to end summer. But we made the most of it and eventually limped our way out of summer and into the school year.

Ted missed two weeks of band while we were on assignment. I offered to bring him home, but he wouldn't have anything to do with that. He caught on quickly and is loving percussion. We have quite a few parades which is always fun!

And sometimes I get in on carrying the drum. Just trying to be helpful!

Ben took the kids out on dates when we got home.

IHOP with Ted.

The Tea Shoppe with Soph.

Ted has been BEGGING for a dog. I am giving him a hard NO! So we're doing a little dog sitting. Winnie is such a great dog.

And we see plenty of Betsy and Stella.

The kids did not ask for chickens but we did feed the Sizick's chickens while they were out of town. And why not feed the chickens in your best wedges?

We spent an afternoon in Pittsburgh. The ultimate goal was a Pirate's game but we didn't make it that far. Ben's back was a mess for about 2 weeks.

We hit up Point State Park on a kind of cool afternoon.

And spent $100 for a football and stuffed animal at Dave & Busters. But who's counting? It was fun!

Working from home in the summer is a gift. And really hard. My dining room table basically becomes a gymatorinaisum.

This is one of Sophie's kitchen concoctions.

We played some cards with the Kozels and Jim. Always a good time.

And then there was the infamous trip to Kenneywood. Ted and Wyatt went with the band. Joanna and I took the girls.

About 2:00 pm Ted called me and was really sick. Too many spinny rides combined with some dehydration led him to a patch of mosquito infested grass, and then to a bench in the middle of the smoking section. He never recovered. Ben saved the day and drove from Morgantown to get him.

Sophie and I stayed with Joanna and rode all the rides. We shut down the park that night.

We even got a stellar front row seat to dine and watch the parade.

Salads and Cheetos anyone?

The week before school started we made an impromptu trip to the Pittsburgh Zoo. Joanna called at 8:00 am and picked me up at 8:45 am. It was an overcast cool day with a threat of rain, which made the zoo a perfectly lovely place to be with no crowds.

Ted and Sophie playing Uno with David and Mary over FaceTime!

And then school started. Cooper joined the crowd walking to school. And Sophie started her final year of elementary school.

We switched bus stops so Sophie and Faith can get on and off the bus together. It's fun seeing Heath or Janell every morning and afternoon.

And I didn't get a picture of Ted and Sophie together. 👎 I will regret that at the end of May.

We are mattress shopping. We ordered one that arrived in a box and was totally compressed. Fascinating. We are currently doing the 100 night sleep trial. I will return it if I don't love it. I should've returned the one we bought three years ago. Lesson learned.

Cole, Janelle and I celebrated school starting with pedicures!

We had our second annual Young Life 5K. Always fun!

These leaders are the best!

On a whim I found a kids cooking class for Sophie. She loved it and we plan to do it again. I learned a lot too!

Fun night out with Jessica and Bethany. These girls are the best! (Also, please note I know better than to curl my hair in the months of June - September. Stupid humidity!)

Sophie doesn't mind mowing so much. Which is nice since you would think I was asking Ted to mow the entire neighborhood when I ask him to mow our TINY yard.