Firsts...Quite a Few of Them!

The Wee Webbers have been very busy lately, hence the lack of blogging.  I've been wanting to post, since there's been plenty to post about, just not plenty of time (sidenote: it's amazing how much less time it feels like I have once the kids are in school.  I guess it's just having to be somewhere twice a day, the endless papers to fill out and send back, the homework, the volunteering, and the packing and unpacking of lunches!)

Of course, the most obvious first is that the girls had their first day of 2nd grade.  If you don't know, I was so back and forth at the end of the year last year, trying to figure out if they were going to go to school or do home school.  My thoughts and plans changed over and over again.  Finally, though, one morning in May I felt a very clear leading from God that they should both go to school this year.  We are about three weeks in and definitely off to a better start than last year.  They are both really liking their teachers and coming home WAY more regulated than in the past.  Abby's been struggling with the transition of a new teacher, but she's starting to realize that this happens every year and that she will feel comfortable soon! 

Not only did the girls start school, but all three kids dove into after-school activities, which we've never done in the fall before.  In the past I have used the fall as time to get adjusted to going to school again (after the glorious free time of summer!), but Abby and Seth really wanted to do soccer, and Haley didn't want to take a break from dance.  So, we went from basically nothing all summer long to school, soccer and dance.  The first week was REALLY tough, since I hadn't worked out any carpools and the kids were spending so much time in the car and just hanging around at each others' activities.  At the end of the first week I felt like I had made the biggest mistake.  We were WAY too scheduled.  I love schedules, but a couple of my kids really need their "down time" at home.  So, we were having meltdowns galore!  Finally I realized, duh, pray about how it could work.  Now we've got it all worked out and flowing easily (well, as easily as anything will ever be when siblings are involved!) with plenty of time at home for my introverts...and for me to make dinner!  Hip, hip, hooray! (Let me tell you, trying to prep and make as much of dinner as possible at 5:30 in the morning is just kind of crazy!)

Seth's first soccer practice.  He's on the Blue Sharks.

Abby's first soccer practice with her team, the Neon Cheetahs!

Haley started a ballet class and a jazz class and Seth started a tap/hip hop class, which for whatever reason I didn't take any picture of.  

The most recent first for the Wee Webbers is that they did their first race with me.  We did a 5K (3 miles) called Color Me Rad.  Everyone starts off wearing white and as you run you have colored liquid and powder thrown at/on you.  It was one of my favorite things that we've ever done!  It was so much fun.  The kids were ROCKSTARS, completing all three miles without ever fussing!  I'm pretty sure they are all ready and wanting to do another race soon!

Bass Lake

For the 3rd summer in a row we had a fantastic weekend camping at Bass Lake.  We camped with Carey's family and got to celebrate Grandpa Steve's retirement (hooray) and our nephew, Brannon's, 18th birthday:) The drive there was so quick and easy (unlike our last camping trip) and it was so gloriously hot when we go there that we parked on the side of the road and played in the lake before we went to find our campsite and get set up!  Haley had been really anxious about playing in the lake (a newly developed fear that caused a lot of meltdowns in the days leading up to the trip) and was so thrilled that she was playing in the lake with no fear!  Carey threw the kids as they did cannonballs and I threw a stick for Banjo, who loved retrieving it out of the water.

Hanging out with Grandma Jackie

Keeping busy while we set up the camp site.

  We played at the lake all day on Saturday.  Haley and Abby's half sister Hannah lives near where we were camping, so she came up and spent the day with us.  It was really hot outside and the lake felt so good.   There is a rock across the cove we were at that the kids loved to swim over to and jump off of, which they did over and over and over!

Ready to play at the lake:)

Seth jumping off the rock!

Haley jumping!

Abby jumping!

Banjo loved the lake:)

Ummmm...heaven!

Our kids had so much fun with Brannon.

We all had a great time having Hannah spend the day with us.

On Sunday Grandpa Steve rented a party boat so we got up and moving early and headed over to the marina.  Everyone had a great time on the boat for a while, then Seth decided he was done and really wanted to go back to the campsite with me.  The bbq on our boat wasn't working, so when we went to switch boats, Seth and I hopped off and walked back to the campsite.  On the walk back to camp he told me he was "peopled out" and he just needed some down time!

Breakfast with their favorite (and only) cousin!

Haley loves her auntie Kelly!

Seth, Abby and Brannon on the tube:)

Haley relaxing on the boat!

The biggest excitement we had was a black and white visitor that kept wandering through our campsite in the late afternoon/early evening.  It happened the 2nd and 3rd nights that we were there.  We were all just sitting around and someone (I think it was Abby) spotted a skunk walking into our site.  We all jumped up, grabbed the dogs (Kelly and Rick had their dog there as well) and moved up the road a little.  We waited there until he wandered away.  This happened multiple times!

Sitting around, just before our friend the skunk showed up.

This guy didn't know he was nocturnal!

The self-proclaimed "meerkats" on the lookout for the skunk!

We had such a great time.  I sure am glad my kids love camping!

One of my all time favorite pictures.

Camping Fun

Well, we did it.  We finally took our first camping trip all by ourselves...just the Webbers.  We have never camped without either my parents or Carey's parents before this summer!  And guess what...we had a great time and managed everything all by ourselves; like real, live grown-up parents!  I was a little nervous, mostly just about food/kitchen stuff.  I've never had to be the one to remember the can opener and cutting board (forgot that one) before!  It all worked out, though, and now we know we can do it:)

We didn't get off to a great start.  I ran the Wharf To Wharf on Sunday morning and then came home and got the last few things ready to go.  Carey and the kids got home from our church's worship gathering and we hit the road.  We made it about 40 seconds before we had to turn around and go home!  Carey is leading worship at a friend's church next weekend and had forgotten that he had to get the songs picked and emailed in before we left.  So, he did that and about an hour later, we hit the road for the second time.  We must have been leaving town at the same time as the other 15,000 people that ran Wharf To Wharf because it took us 35 minutes to get from our house to blue ball park (which is about 4 minutes away).  We stopped there for our first bathroom break!  From there the road was clear and we finally felt like we were on our way.  Unfortunately, we weren't!  We made it a little past the summit and were completely stopped in traffic.  S-T-O-P-P-E-D.  Like, not moving even a little bit.  We started a Tinker Bell movie at that point and our kids watched the entire movie before we even made it to Lexington reservoir.  So, what should have been a 3 1/2 hour trip turned into an almost 6 hour trip!  Oh, and of the two movies that I grabbed for them to watch in the car, only one of the cases actually had a movie in it!

You might think we were all falling apart by the time we got there, but we really weren't (all glory to God)!  Carey dealt nicely with the traffic (we kept saying we were so thankful we didn't have a screaming baby in the car) and the kids really hung in there!  As soon as we got to our camp site our kids made friends and ran off to play and climb rocks, which left Carey and I free to set up camp.  That felt extra glorious because trying to get set up and settled with the kids needing to be entertained or helped is usually the hardest part of camping for me.  We had a great night, roasting marshmallows and watching bats fly and the stars come out.

The next morning we woke up ready for a fun day at the lake.  We ate breakfast (why are camping pancakes so good?), packed up our snacks and floaties and headed out.  As we pulled up to the beach, one of the kids pointed out a sign that said "no dogs beyond this point".  What?  No dogs on the beach?  I had checked the website ahead of time to make sure we could take Banjo with us.  I was kind of freaking out!  Carey went over to the marina/store to ask if there was somewhere on the lake we could have our dog, and I started begging the Lord for ideas.  I figured that maybe we could find someone with a smart phone and check Craigslist for a nearby dog-sitter or something.  Turns out that dogs just have to stay off the main beach at the swimming area (which is a new rule that they really should update on their website).  We found a great little spot off to the side of the marina and had a blast all day long.  We did lots of swimming, floating, snacking and laughing.  At one point, Seth and I got out of the lake and plopped down on a towel on the warm rocks/sand and Seth said "Ahhhh...now this is what camping is all about."

The next day we cleaned up camp and spent about an hour or so at the lake before heading home.  Our trip home was wonderfully uneventful!  We wish we could have stayed longer and can't wait to go back next year:)

My $.79 badmitten set was a big hit!

This awesome fallen tree/secret fort/balance beam was in our campsite!

This sweet girl is always ready to help!

Banjo got a little nervous and climbed up into Carey's arms!

We went on a "hike" part-way around the lake.

Cookies and milk at 9:00 in the morning!

One last look at the lake before we left!

4th Of July

Unlike our summer, the 4th of July did not get off to a good start, but got progressively better as the day went on!  I tried to sneak in a run while the kids were watching cartoons, which usually works out fine.  They know daddy is sleeping so they can get him if they need him, otherwise they just sit and stare at the tv!  For some reason, when I walked back into the house after my run, the majority of my kids were crying and Carey was upset that he had woken up to fighting.  I'm still not sure what happened, but I think it was all about red leggings!  Then Haley didn't want to go to the parade we always go to and Abby was freaking out, because she so looks forward to it (which makes it seem like it's a lot more awesome than it is).  But, the kids and I did manage to make it out the door without anyone in tears and with all the snacks and entertainment that we would need for the two hours that we would wait for the parade to start (gotta get there early to get a good spot)!

I think my kids favorite thing about the parade is that they get to get a doughnut!  And maybe all the dogs!  Once we made it down there, we did have a really good time.  We got to catch up with some dear, special friends, we painted nails, played Uno and saw lots of friends.  Carey made it down shortly before the parade started and Grammie Lori, Uncle Nate and Auntie Melissa came shortly after it started! 

If you only get a doughnut once a year, might as well pick the biggest one, right?!

Our friend Sam came and joined us (and hung out with the kiddos and I while we waited for it to start).

Gotta love the dogs:)

After the parade we went home and played in the pool and lounged around at home!  Later in the afternoon we had a bbq out in the street with our neighbors and had a great time!  The girls were all in bed well before fireworks were happening and thankfully, Banjo was not bothered by them!

This is what happens when we hang out with our neighbors...soda and candy!

Look how fun our neighbors are!