July

 Our last full month off with the kids and I don't think any of us are ready for school to start back up this year.

A couple of months ago, Caleb got tickets for the kids to go and see a few of their favorite bands.  Since it was a couple of hours away and not all the way my music cup of tea, he took a solo mission.  I'm so thankful my kids ended up with the coolest dad.

They also got to do a quick meet up with PA cousins, but unfortunately the weather didn't cooperate for pictures or to get to see Mac play softball.  It is on our list for one of these days!

I know everyone says their kids are good at everything, but I just have to brag on Ayra.  This summer her drawing talent with lots of practice has just gotten unreal.  I am loving getting to have the artwork in our house get to be drawn by her.

These two sure have enjoyed the summer together

Onto August, which brings back to school and some giant news for our family :)

June

 The only thing of note that really happened in May was Casen finishing the 10th grade and Arya finished the 7th grade.

So, onto June.  June is going to be one of the months that I remember for a really long time.

June started with a trip that will possibly only happen once for us.  Casen turned 16 and had zero birthday present requests.  He's just not a kid whose really into stuff.  So, Caleb and I decided to surprise him with a chartered boat trip with family for his big gift instead of things.  I'm so thankful family were able to make the long trek and be a part of his birthday trip.  His birthday wasn't until the 30th, but schedules worked out best for us to go the first week of June.

We got to hang out for a few days in a beautiful cabin and the weather ended up being perfect.

And then the boys go to head out on the big fishing adventure

Tasting some of their catch

I really hope it's something we're able to do again in the future.

And then Caleb's first day back at work after vacation, someone crashed into his police car.  Thankful for just bumps and bruises there.

And then I think I had one of my favorite birthdays so far.  Caleb and the kids went all out with decorations and I got really thoughtful gifts.  If you watch the office, you will appreciate my decor.

And then somehow, Casen turned 16.  He is such an incredible kid.  He loves his video games and fishing.  He still sets his alarm to wake up and go with me during the summer for my grocery shopping trips.  He's always making us laugh and has a great group of friends. He's just the best and I'm so thankful he's a part of our family.

We celebrated with a trip to the steak house and some brownie sundaes with black raspberry icecream.

March

We had a pretty great month.

Arya is part of a future problem solving group, through her tag classes in school, that has to submit their answer to the state and each year see if they qualify to advance to competition.  She's made it every year so far, but this year, for the first time in the school's history, her and her teammate won first place and got to advance to nationals.

And for the kid's spring break this year, we took advantage of Caleb's coinciding days off and went to, what's becoming a favorite spot for us, the Northern Neck.  We went there last year for our summer vacation, but we wanted to try out one of the other towns in the area. We are in such a great time period with our kids.  It's so nice to get to go somewhere and just relax without having the hustle and bustle of little ones we once did. It ended up being the perfect weather, too.  It was cool enough for evening fires and bundling up by the water, but nice enough to enjoy playing board games in the sun room all day.