Christmas morning. The kids are getting ready to go down and see what Santa brought. Micah isn't a morning person, so he's not up for smiles early in the morning. :)
Last weekend was the mountain festival. It's our favorite weekend of the year! The kids always count down the days til it's time for the festival to begin.
This year was no different. The weather was a little warmer than usual, but everyone still had a fun time.
Here are some highlights. I put some of the pictures in collages so I didn't have too many to post. :)
Wednesday was America Day at co-op, so the kids got to wear red, white, and blue!
We started school this year on August 10th. Technically our homeschool co-op day was our first day. :)
I'm not much into posting "First Day of School Pics" on social media, but I don't mind posting them on here so I can remember what my kiddos look like at this age.
Drennan has taken the plunge and started Dade County High School...in order to be in the marching band. He's in the 9th grade. Here he is with Memp and Mae Mae on Thursday, August 11. They ride to school together every day.
Micah is in the 7th grade now. Picture taken on August 11th, when we started our book work.
The start of a new school year can sometimes be a little emotional for me. I tend to think about how they are a school-year older, and it makes me sad. This year was no different. It was actually worse for me due to Drennan going away to school. It's really different with him being gone all day. We miss him during the day. I hope we all have a great year!
Still scrolling through old e-mails and came upon last year's Halloween pictures.
Every 4th of July since I can remember, my family has gone to Bear Creek to celebrate with extended family. There have been a few years here and there when we weren't able to go, but for the most part, we've gone. My grandma owns the lands where we hike down into and swim. The swimming area is called Steep Holler. It's very steep! We have to drive a truck for about 1/2 mile on a dirt road until we reach the trail. The trail goes straight down about 1/4 of a mile in the woods til it reaches water.
My grandma grew up on the land that goes down into Bear Creek. It's a beautiful area. My mom has memories of going swimming with cousins every Sunday growing up. They must've been in great shape because the hike is very hard! haha.
We haven't been to the creek in a couple of years, but we decided to go this year and I'm glad we did.
The kids loved it! The water is icy cold, but that didn't stop them from having fun. There is a ledge where a lot of people jump off into the water. The kids saw some bigger kids jumping and decided they wanted to try it.
Micah jumping.
Last week we went to Ft. Morgan for a beach trip. Lots of fun, and tiring, of course. Not all vacations are super relaxing, especially if you're going with a lot of people.
We got up at 4am on a Saturday to start our way to Ft. Morgan. It was cool, and the traffic wasn't bad at all. The kids slept most of the way. :)
Sunday (Father's Day) was my birthday! Lila made me this drink. Coffee with whipped cream on top!
I made this collage of photos on the same day. It was a fun day!
It rained one morning while we were gone, so the kids watched a movie inside. There were a lot of kids!
My kids had fun playing with Ollie all week. :) She was The Little Mermaid on this day in her towel.
Lila went off to Camp Lookout on Monday. We miss her like crazy, but she had a great time last summer when she went, so we're hoping she's having a great time again.
The kids have been wanting to sleep on the trampoline for a long time. Last night was a great night to do it. Not too hot or too cold. So, Tad slept out there with Micah, Lila, and Jude. Not sure how much sleep they got, but it was a lot of fun for them!
Lila and Jude picked me a lovely, springy bunch of wildflowers on Mother's Day.
Jude is playing for the Houston Astros this year in baseball. He loves playing, and we love watching him.
