the week of Emmy and high school

This guy started high school on Monday!  I can't even believe it!

Bryce decided on the morning of the first day of school that he needed a haircut, ha!  We went that evening and then took round 2 of first day of school pictures. 

We deemed this week "the week of Emmy" since she had another week of summer vacation, and she had some missed time to make up for since she spent a lot of her summer at the gym or in the car taxiing Bryce places. 

On Monday I took the girls shopping, to lunch and to get their nails done.  

On Tuesday I took Emmy and her friends and soon to be classmates to the pool.  We had the place to ourselves since most everybody is back in school. 

On Wednesday, Emmy got invited to go shopping with the "big girls".  She felt so special to be included.  Then she got her back to school haircut.  

After an initial orthodontist consult (we learned she was ready for braces and could have gotten them on that day) we headed to Kings Dominion to meet friends.  Roller coasters are way better than braces.  She's getting them on Monday instead. 

It was HOT on Friday so we met friends for ice cream for lunch. 

Bryce had a decent week of school and had fun with friends all weekend (including jet skiing).  

This morning Emmy played Amazing Grace during communion, and she did a great job.  The kids enjoyed laser tag for youth group tonight!

Emmy goes to her open house tomorrow and then she's off to middle school on Tuesday.  I'd say it was a successful week and she's more than ready for school to start.  

Bryce's 9th and final week of summer

Our county is adapting a new calendar where we get out of school right around Memorial Day instead of mid-June.  To prepare for that, we lost 2 weeks of summer vacation this year.  Emmy is going to a private school which will have a similar schedule to Bryce's but the start date has been pushed back a week because new construction wasn't finished in time. 

Tuesday is Emmy's fun day because she doesn't have gymnastics, so Nana took her and Chase and Taylor to Kings Dominion while Bryce was at a baseball camp.  A friend of ours was working a ride that is an additional cost outside of the season pass and she let the girls ride for free since she wasn't busy!

We have friends whose son is going through a cancer journey, and we bought shirts to support him.  They came in this week just in time for us to encourage him as he went in for a weeklong treatment.  

We took Bryce to his high school orientation on Thursday.  It's a big school and he's a bit overwhelmed.  Jason and I also went there for high school, and we assured him it's manageable.  It was fun for us to see our old stomping grounds. 

We took out Emmy's braids from the Bahamas and got a good laugh at her Barbie like hair.  

Bryce had a baseball tournament yesterday and today.  He's off to a great start this season and he's holding his own in the outfield.  This week at his baseball camp he received the "best infielder" award!  And now we're home and wondering how in the world summer vacation is over.  It's going to be a bit of a challenge getting used to an August start, but ready or not, here we come!

8th week of summer

Summer is winding down, but we're trying to soak up every minute of it.  The kids spend more time away from me than with me so I have few pictures to show for our week which also makes it difficult to recap.  Bryce went fishing on Monday and he played golf on Tuesday.  I went outside to water my plants on Tuesday and was greeted with this beautiful rainbow.

Bryce had baseball practice on Tuesday night so we let Emmy take us for a spin on Nana's golf cart. 

I'm not even sure what we did on Wednesday and Thursday (oh the kids went to a fun youth group with friends on Thursday night) but we enjoyed our 11th annual Whitlock/Shipley beach day on Friday.  

We started this tradition after the boys' first year of preschool and we haven't missed a year yet. 

They're getting so big!

Jason joined us this year for the first time. 

Goals!

We all enjoyed dinner together at Pierce's on the way home. 

We stopped by the outlets on the way home for some back to school shopping.  

The kids and I went to the pool today after church.  It feels weird that the kids are going back to school so early this year but the pool will still be open. 

Bryce has 1 more week of summer left.  Both kids were going to start on the same day, but Emmy gained an extra week because her school building won't be ready in time. 

20th anniversary trip to Atlantis - 7th week of summer

Day 1 

Travel days are not always fun, but we made it.  Our original flights had us all flying together from Richmond, but our first flight got delayed the night before and we knew we'd miss our connection in Atlanta.  We all scrambled to make changes (on different flights), but we were all reunited in the Bahamas before dinner!

We got ourselves acclimated with the resort the first night.  We saw the aquariums, got burgers and swam. 

Day 2 

We hit the beach on our first full day and loved the crystal-clear water. 

There was lots of snorkeling on the trip and lots of fun things seen including sea turtles. 

There were lots of beach drinks consumed as well. 

Ready for dinner. 

We had dinner at Chopstix and it was quite an entertaining experience for Bryce. 

We planned this trip to return to our honeymoon destination for our 20th wedding anniversary.  We had to take an updated picture in the chair!

Sometimes they love each other, ha!

We always love each other, ha!

My work roommate and I realized a couple of months ago that we had planned the same tip for the same week so we met up with them a couple of times on the trip. 

Day 2

This was our anniversary.  The kids (and Nana) surprised us with shirts to mark the occasion.  

It's such a beautiful resort. 

The kids were good playmates for Ella. 

Bryce and I could sit in the sun ALL day!

Jason and I had dinner reservations for our anniversary and the Kothes were kind enough to take our kids to dinner with them.  

We ate at Seafire Steakhouse and the food was amazing!

After dinner we met back up with the kids and found the most peaceful area to rock in hammocks. 

Day 3

Touching the sea turtles in the wild was the highlight of their snorkeling adventures.  

Many milkshakes were consumed on this trip. 

We clean up well.  

We enjoyed one last dinner together.  I've seen pictures on social media where guys show up to an event and they're all wearing the same shirt.  Even though it was just the two of them, we thought it would be fun.  They were surprised!

This guy is quite a character. 

Another milkshake!

Day 4 

We spent the last morning on the beach soaking up the sun!  As the week went on, Bryce started to see some really tall guys at the resort and learned that there was a college basketball tournament going on at the resort.  He and Jason were able to watch two games on Friday afternoon (South Carolina vs Lithuania and Creighton vs Bahamas.  While the boys were gone Emmy checked off her bucket list and got her hair braided.  

We all met up at the pool to wrap up our last day!  It was a wonderful trip with many great memories made!