Wrapping up Summer - Back to School!

At the end of August, we experienced a solar eclipse!  We live too far north to have been able to see a total eclipse; what we witnessed was a partial eclipse.  The kids were excited and we got special glasses to be able to look at the eclipse without damaging our eyes.  None of us really knew what to expect (I can't recall ever witnessing an eclipse before?).  Honestly, it wasn't as monumental here in Chicagoland as I heard it was further down south, where the moon passed perfectly in front of the sun and created really neat images, and strange daytime darkness.  The first photo below is what our sky looked like - it just got a bit dimmer outside, but the sun continued to shine.  However, when I took a photo through the special glasses, you could see what was really happening much better!

On August 23, the kids returned to school!  Cassie began 5th grade (middle school!), Gavin began 3rd grade, and Tyler started in Junior Kindergarten.  It's always bittersweet; I miss being with the kids and I miss the laid-back, fun pace of summer - but it's also time to return to a nice routine (and learn some things too!).

To wrap up August, Erik and the boys joined Grandpa Brown for a Bears game!  They played the Cleveland Browns (and unfortunately the Bears got clobbered!) - but it was such a fun experience for all of them to go to Soldier Field together.  Grandpa Brown has been a season ticket holder since 1971!  Fun to keep the tradition alive. Go Bears!

Road Trip to Florida

We just wrapped up a great Florida visit!  Since it's summertime and we can be more leisurely, we decided to drive down.  We drove as far as Lexington, and stopped over for a quick visit with the Burkholders.  We loved making s'mores with them!

The next day, we drove the rest of the way down to The Villages to visit with Grandma and Grandpa Reder.  We had a great time as always, playing in the pool, sightseeing around town, doing puzzles, crafts, and sports.  We also took a day trip to Florida's Museum of Natural History in Gainesville.  It's on the campus of the University of Florida and had really amazing exhibits and interactive science areas for the kids.  They had a special summer exhibit on frogs that was especially fun to see.  We also got to be with Grandma on her birthday, hooray!  We loved celebrating and joining her for cake!

Tyler always loves seeing the sailfish that Grandpa caught.

The old photos of the catch from 1968, when Grandpa Reder was 19 and had blonde hair!

   

After a few days of visiting, we headed out for a day at Disney's Magic Kingdom.  Tyler had never been!  In the past he's always stayed back with Grandma and Grandpa.  It was so fun for all of us to see him enjoy it for the first time!  We all had a really great day.

Kicking off August

We started off this month by taking Cassidy to YMCA Camp Eberhart in MI for a fun week of summer camp with 2 of her great friends!  This will be her 2nd year as a camper at Eberhart.  The week started off smoothly, we dropped her off and she had a few days of pure summer fun...however on Thursday we were notified that a high number of campers had come down with a terrible norovirus and we needed to head back early to pick her up!  Luckily, she was not sick, but they decided to close the campgrounds early to do a thorough cleaning.  So, while she did enjoy the few days she had, it didn't end quite as nicely as it began.  But now she's back home, and we are enjoying having her around again!

Erik and I celebrated our 14th anniversary on August 9th!  The years just add up quickly!  I found it fitting that his sweet card read, "Can't believe it's been 13 years!"  Ha ha - that's because it hasn't, it's been 14!  We got a good laugh.  We had a great dinner out to celebrate.

And the picture below sums up summer!  We had a backyard BBQ with 4 other families who we enjoy so much.  These are all the kids in attendance.  We had a substantial chunk of the sidewalk covered in chalk.  Ahhh, relaxed summer fun!