Saying Goodbye to Summer

This summer went by quick!  Maybe it's because the kids started school the first week of August, or just that we had a lot going on, but I felt like the kiddos ended school, swam a bit, and now are back in school. 

Most of the milestone trips and events I documented in separate posts, like our trip to Tampa and Texas.  In between all those things, we kept busy with many other things!  I want to remember all those said things, so photo dump (and brief description) of our days below, not in any sequential order:

We got a new movie theater in town with some COMFY seats.  The kids hit up 2 or 3 movies, which is more than James and I have seen our whole marriage.

Wesley went to the dentist, which is not really monumental (but the pics are cute). He's still got one cavity in his front tooth but we're watching and hoping that it just falls out soon.

JB went away for the first time to summer camp!  Granted, he stayed with his BFF Mac and Mac's family, but still...first time away from home. He did GREAT, but we were ALL so excited when he came home.

Kids attended swimming lessons again this summer, although JB has now aged out (sadly!)  Maryn is our little fish and really worked on her strokes, while Wesley...well...he did a little independent swimming with Ms. Ronda and then spent the rest of the summer in floaties. They are falling apart, so we've vowed to NOT buy another pair and he MUST learn in 2023!!

We celebrated one super great father on father's day...

...who then accidentally busted his daughter's nose with a pool kickboard (OOOPS!)

Fortunately Maryn recovered for a quick girls' day up in Macon, where we got pedicures and facials. (Well, Maryn got a quick and hydrating massage while Mama had to endure dermaplanes and exfoliation.)

We celebrating July 4th with our backyard neighbors who put on quite the show! Love this group and the kiddos (and adults) in it.

Our favorite twins turned FIVE YEARS OLD!!  Which is unreal because I remember holding them when they barely weighed 5 pounds.

We watched while a sweet, much prayed for baby was baptized into the church.  God bless you, baby Morgan!

Sadly we had to miss another big milestone in the life of our goddaughter, Reagan, thanks to COVID. But, thank goodness for technology so we could watch her first communion via the livestream.

We made lots of Bingo nights at the Country Club, and one night JB won the jackpot! $300!! He donated $50 to the church (love him) and is saving the rest.  He always saves his money, so this child may be able to buy a car when he turns 16.

James and I took our annual visit down to Mayo for our physicals.  Thankfully, we checked out just fine!  Big thanks to Grammy and Cousin Tori for holding down the fort.

One weekend our neighbors came over to fish for brim in our (crowded) pond. They must have caught 50 of them!  That week they hosted a fish fry and we got to feast on brim and hushpuppies.

Enda is doing GREAT on her new regime for Addison's disease. She's been dealing with fatty tumors for a while and the vet finally felt she could do well enough in surgery.  They took off two this summer and, besides chewing off her drain tube, she did very well. She's back to bugging James each morning for a walk.

Ginger also continues to do great.  "She's just the best cat", says Jennie, JB, Maryn and Wesley.  (James is not yet in agreement, but she's working on him....)

Our quara-team spent many days and nights together, even as we were all pulled in many different directions!  We cherish the time with these sweet neighbors. 

Truthfully, we've been trying to get in as much time with our neighbors as we can.  One of the biggest events this summer: buying a property down on the marsh south of Savannah, announcing our upcoming move in 2023, and selling our beautiful and loved home in Dublin.  While we're super excited, we're also feeling a little sentimental about what all will change between this summer and the next. We spent a lot of time on our new property this summer, and looking forward to building our permanent home and moving there next summer.

Whew...busy, busy!  And this is just what I happened to capture in my photos!  Summer 2022, you were a good one.  Makes me excited about what's to come in the Fall.  Bring on the pumpkins and cooler temps!

Wesley's Turn! Last year of Preschool!

Well how in the world...this kid is finishing up Preschool!?!? Didn't he just start Preschool??  I'm not ready!!

But, Wesley sure was ready.  He asked about going back to Pine Forest all summer. Funny enough, we started with Pine Forest when we moved to Dublin (JB in the 18 month class), moved all around to several other (great) Preschools, and now we're finishing up the Sasser's preschool days back at Pine Forest.  It's like a full circle.

This year he's with Ms. Becky and Ms. Tammy, legends around here when it comes to PreK.  I know he'll be more than ready for Kindergarten next year (even if Mama - and Ms. Therlon - are not!)

Thankfully Wesley still loves to take pictures so he cheesecaked-it-up all over the school on the first day.

And, the Garbage Man (Wesley's fav) arrived just as we were taking pictures!  So he got in on some pics, too :)  

We hope you have a WONDERFUL YEAR, Wesley!  You have the brightest smile, the best personality, and are a great friend to others.  We know you'll do GREAT things this year to close out your Preschool chapter.

 

Time with our littlest guy

There is something to be said for that "last child" spot in a family. (Maybe because that is my birth order, haha).  The bigger kids would say that Wesley gets away with just about anything. And this may be true. But he's just so stinking cute!!  And he's our baby, so we work extra hard to keep him from growing up too fast.  This may be why he's still very attached at the hip to us, Ms. Therlon, and his siblings. 

We had a week-and-a-half between the big kids starting school and Wesley starting school, so I took advantage of the time by taking Wesley on a little 1:1 trip to Macon with me. (James had planned to go, but had to stay home with our quarantined little red head.)  I had an appointment with my esthetician extraordinaire, Ms. Bobby, and Wesley watched the whole time with fascination as she did all the things she does to keep my skin looking its best.  

We had planned to go to the Macon Science museum, then Fountain of Juice (with Becca and the kids) and talked about the plan for weeks.  After parking at the museum and looking around at the lack of cars, I realized I never checked the schedule...and they close on Mondays!!  Good grief.  Fortunately Wesley is our very chill, go-with-the-flow kiddo and didn't mind a last minute change. Especially when I suggested the Warner Robins Air Force museum (which thankfully is open every day).

We've been to the museum many times, but when the big kids were very small and before Wes can remember.  He LOVED the planes, helicopters, trucks, and exhibits. He loved the volunteer veterans who told us all about the planes and war stories (with plenty of not-4-year-old-appropriate language, haha).  We could have spent hours and hours. Get ready for picture overload:

I am so very grateful for the solo time that I get with these kiddos.  While we spend a lot of time saying "I wish JB and Maryn could see this, too" or "next time we'll bring Maryn and JB", there is something sweet when you get to bond individually.  

I can't believe this blondie is about to head to PreK and spend his last year in church school before BIG school.  We're going to soak up every minute!

Back to School for the Big Kids!

Goodness, school started back early this year. Not that I'm complaining, because our family needs the structure. It must be a Southern thing, as most of our friends in Georgia, Mississippi, and Alabama went back last of July/first of August. 

Can't believe we have a 3rd grader and a 1st grader!  They're growing up so fast! 

We went to Open House the day before school and Maryn "met" her teacher.  (Mrs. Fernandez team-taught with M's teacher last year, so she's very familiar!)  JB also had her for 1st, and we're big fans.  She's going to have a GREAT year.  

We didn't get to meet JB's teacher, Mrs. Daniel, as she still had a day left on her COVID quarantine.  I could tell this bummed out JB, but when we met her on the first day we could tell she's a nice teacher. (And he's loving her class so far!)

Speaking of COVID...

The nurse called us at noon on the first day to report that Maryn was running a fever.  WHAAAAAAT? I took her home and an at-home test immediately showed her positive for COVID.  Fortunately her symptoms were mild and short (like 24 hours), so we spent the next 5 days staying isolated at home, working through homework and workbooks, reading, learning all the lyrics to Adele songs, and keeping her spirits up. She hated to miss the first days of school!

Praying these kiddos have a WONDERFUL year and that all the Dublin City kiddos thrive and learn.  Many blessings upon the teachers, too!