Some miscellaneous family happenings from back in August...
CRAFTING
One weekday, we joined some friends at this ceramic painting studio. The kids loved choosing their own pottery pieces and worked hard at painting them. For the best result, we were told to paint multiple layers, so the kids had to be diligent!
We left our completed pieces at the studio so they could be fired. When it was time to pick up the pieces a couple weeks later, the kids were thrilled with how they turned out. What a fun new experience!
CAST OFF!
Four weeks after breaking his pinkie finger, it was finally time for Jaden to return to the orthopedic doctor. Wearing a cast in the summer meant missing out on lots of swimming and various sporting activities, so Jaden was more than ready for the cast to be removed.
Thanks to the Lord's healing hand, the x-rays showed that Jaden's finger was making good progress and his cast could officially come off. Jaden had to buddy tape his fingers for a few weeks until he gained back his full range of motion, but he could resume nearly all of his regular activities again. Hooray!
BUBBLE BASH
The weekend before school began, a realtor in our neighborhood planned this awesome community event-- a bubble party! Our family had never seen a bubble truck before, so this was quite an experience. The kids thought it was amazing! The photos (and the kids' large smiles) can speak for themselves.
The kids had a great time fooling around with their neighborhood buddies.
Our friend Andrea joined us for dinner and the bubble bash as well. She was the only adult there willing to receive hugs from these bubbly kids!
The event wrapped up with the arrival of the local fire department. Their heavy duty hoses made quick work of the clean-up. We are thankful for our firemen who serve the community in a random variety of ways!
FUN OUTINGS
A few other events we snuck in before school started included a dinner + escape room date night for Jason and me...
... visiting one of our favorite donut shops,
...and going with cousins to a new-to-us ice cream parlor.
We were shocked at their generous portions! Adley's cone was supposed to be a double scoop. The treats were perfect for the warm summer day.
SCHOOL KICKOFF
It's hard to believe that Jaden and Cody are already big 4th graders! The boys started back in the middle of August and thankfully had NO mask requirements this school year.
The boys weren't particularly thrilled about starting back into the routine of school, especially since 4th grade is a heavy homework year. We are thankful, though, for their wonderful Christian school, caring teachers, and good friends.
FANTASY FOOTBALL
Jason had to be a bit flexible with the start of his fantasy football season this year. Typically, he organizes two leagues-- one with a group of friends from church and another with family. To start their season, the leagues gather for a live draft and pick players for their teams. Unfortunately, I ended up with a positive COVID test shortly after school started, and our entire family was under quarantine. It's a good thing Jason is an out-of-the-box thinker anyway-- he quickly reorganized his drafts to be virtual events. He came up with a great system for running the draft and bought tasty snacks for our kids to enjoy at home.
All three of our kids formed fantasy teams this year and were very excited about the season ahead!
Adley was the defending champion from the previous year (not exactly sure how that happened?!?), so she was even called upon to give a brief speech at the start of the draft. Her speech was "Have a plan and stick with it." Even though it was a different format than originally planned, our sports-loving kids had a great time at the draft.
