August in Review

 Apparently, a potential hurricane has us in her sights (Tropical Storm Hermine at the moment.  As this is the case, tidying up the house seems a little futile.  I mean, how many opportunities do you get to say "It looks like a hurricane went through here" and a hurricane actually went through the vicinity of your house?)

And what do I do when I'm not tidying the house and the children are otherwise occupied with each other and food?  I write about the family.  We had quite the busy month of August.  It started with visits from family.  First up: Tropical Storm Reddig

Molly took the majority of pictures on the visit...

 Katie and Robert and Mary Ann and Rose and Peter and Margaret arrived on the 4th (I purchased an 8 man tent and two air mattresses for the kids.  More than a couple of people were not impressed (namely, Eric who had to set it up and pump up the mattresses in 90ish heat (Robert helped, but had a much kinder attitude than my husband) and Mary Ann and Rose.  One of which slept in the tent the other remained firmly in the air conditioned house),  but Dom loved it and sort of wanted to sleep in it forever) and we all moved into a condo in Fort Walton on the 5th for a week.  It was a great vacation, despite it being the rainiest week of the summer.  We spent mornings in the water and afternoons watching the Olympics, playing cards, and vegging out in general. 

We played The Great Dalmuti with 8 players!  It was amazing!

 Towards the end of the visit with the Reddigs, Nana and L'Opa arrived.  We had a really nice time catching up with them.  Though, the majority of the conversations centered around William trying to tell L'Opa everything he knew about Harry Potter.  Which is a lot, by the way.  Especially as he had just finished The Cursed Child.  That would be 8 books worth of knowledge he tried to educate his grandfather about...eventually, L'Opa suggested watching a movie. 

When Harry Potter was not being discussed, we swam in the hotel pool and visited The Armament Museum, or hung out on our back deck enjoying the August heat and mosquito population.  We never made it to the beach.  The weather just was not cooperative during this span of time.  Hopefully, they will make it down again before we move so that can see what all the fuss is about!

 Due to all the swimming in the pool, we could no longer ignore John's long hair.  His bangs went down to his chin when wet.  Granted most of the time, they were in curls and one couldn't notice.  But, if the humidity dipped, it was just one big mess.  So, a couple of weeks ago he got his first real haircut. 

Most people cannot tell, but it makes a huge difference during swimming lessons and the day or two after a bath.

 John continues to be quite capable at getting to places he wants to.  He climbed the rock wall at the park.  Will was there with the assist at the end.  And, I did relent and help him down.

 Molly's "I enjoy being a girl" moment. 

 John's "I love nutella so much I prefer to wear it" moment

 The kids did spend time outside during August.  Dom is currently in training to race a 1 miler over Memorial Day Weekend 2017, granted, he has baseball, basketball, and soccer between now and then to distract him from this particular goal, but he has most of the neighborhood kids running relays in the evening.  Uphill...it has actually been great for his endurance at soccer.  And, it is an excellent way to tire out a certain 2-year-old with a propensity for late afternoon naps.

But, when they weren't running hills, and the weather was so hot that I didn't want to be out, much Wii was played.  We have weaned off it pretty well.  In fact, they haven't played this week come to think of it.  Funny how when you start schoolwork, they naturally start playing other games when they get breaks and do not ask for video games. 

The above is an older picture taken the first week of July.  When I was out of town, Eric, a.k.a. Super Dad, took the kids to Henderson Beach by himself.  You can see the top of John's head at the bottom of the picture.  Impressive. (Say that in a Darth Vader voice)

Last week, we went for our final visit to Universal.  I cannot tell you how excited I was at the thought of taking this picture and then presenting it as our First Day of School pic for social media.  Molly did not exactly play along:

But, she sort of did earlier, just without a clear shot of the towers:

We had a nice time that seems nicer the more time goes on.  Turns out, I'm not a huge fan of amusement parks.  But, I am a huge fan of my kids' excitement.  Will loves them.  Molly really does, too.  Dom really enjoys the spectacle and loves some of the rides, but refuses to ride others.  However, he is perfectly happy to stand in line and wait with John in child swap.  Something I'm not sure many 9 year olds would not complain about.  At any rate, we are ready to move on to other parks and see what they hold. 

Finally, we had our first real day of school this past Monday.  Dom has shown wonderful diligence in his work.  Will, has not slipped a bit over the summer.  And Molly is happy to do work for about 15 minutes.  Luckily, that is really all one needs to get through the academic portion.  Then she plays and creates (messes or art...it could go either way) the rest of the day.  John is a work in progress.  But, I think we will get through the year without too much time in front of the tv for John.  Though, those PBS shows are highly educational!

And that wraps it up! Phew!  Time to call in a couple of kids from their break.  And probably should tidy up a little.  Until next time!