Whoops...I missed a few months

So, I've been keeping this family blog for years now and I've never missed months. Months...an entire season. Whoops. Let's just say we were on the run. I kept thinking that I might catch it all up, but alas I've determined to just draw a line in the sand and just start fresh. Having said that, here's a recap of the summer:

VBS
Soccer camp in Bartlett
Soccer camp in Jackson at Union
Basketball camp in Jackson at Union
Basketball practice...sometimes twice a day
Basketball scrimmages...all over the city and sometimes out of town
Time spent with Mimi and Tee
Time spent with Janice and Mun
Time spent with Mawmaw, Pawpaw and our cousins
Beach Blast (Youth camp)
Children's camp
Little Kids Camp
A trip to the beach with friends
A trip to St. Louis with family
Fred turned 40 and we had a party for him
Clayton turned 14 and we had a party for him
Jack turned 11 and we had a party for him

I'm sure I'm missing something, but that's about what we packed in during our short, short summer.

So here goes...

We started school back and we've hit the ground running...or maybe we just continued running. I'm really not sure. I just know we never stop around here.

Clayton is now 14 and started high school. High school. Gulp.

 Jack is now 11. He just started middle school. Middle school. Gulp.
I took him for a physical because he's playing basketball for his school. He measured in right at 5'7". The doctor told me he has not even hit his major growth spurt yet. He asked Jack if he liked playing basketball. Jack grinned from ear to ear and said, "No, I LOVE playing basketball." The doctor said, "Good, keep dribbling." Ha!

 Sweet Andrew is seven and in the second grade. Second grade. Wow, these boys are growing up so fast.

A little earlier in the summer I took Clayton for a preview day with the high school. Since he is starting a new school, he didn't really know where to go or what to do. At first he was a little apprehensive and asked me to go with him. As we rounded this corner he told me he was good and I could leave. I saw a strong willed toddler come full circle. I saw a determined, confident, and independent young man and it brought me great joy!

Fred turned 40 over the summer. We had a few friends meet us at Aldo's Pizza downtown for a little surprise party. It was a great time to celebrate one of my favorite fellas. 

Sweet Melody and Corey came from Paris. 

My family was out of town for the party so they came a few days later. My mom made a quilt for Fred with all of his race shirts from the last few years. It was a labor of love for sure. 

Clayton had his 14th birthday party at the Bluff City Escape Rooms and then they had ice cream at Sheridan's. We had two different rooms, but everyone escaped successfully.

Back in June Jack turned 11. He chose to have Bennett and Caleb come and stay for a weekend. We had loads of fun. We went swimming, rode bikes at Shelby Farms, had pizza at High Point Pizza,
played Laser Tag and went to Jumping World. It was an eventful weekend celebrating a sweet fella.

One of my back to school rituals is to clean out the playroom and Andrew's room. Andrew is a bit of a pack rat. Over the summer he gathers many, many "treasures". He has a craft corner in the playroom so I had to get his help. I'm happy to report we got it all cleaned out and ready for his next project. 

Not to leave out Dash...the summer and the beginning of school has left him exhausted. Ha! We run and run and run and it really interrupts his nap schedule. He even tries to cover up my yoga mat so I won't work out. 

The weather here has been perfection this week. Dash and I have been able to go on a few walks. While on those walks Dash has cleared out all the squirrels and birds from our neighborhood. He takes this responsibility very seriously. Very seriously. 

Jack's life can be summed up with one word over the last three months: basketball. He has been at practice almost everyday and loves every minute of it. But on Friday night he took a break and went with some of his buddies to his first middle school dance. I wish I could have been a fly on the wall. I'm told that a 7th grade girl "asked him out". What?!?! He said he was very nice, but politely told her no thank you. Whew...dodged a bullet with that one.