School is In!

 The first day of school is so great if you a teenager who hates his picture taken.  This is Spencer off on his first day as a freshman at Freedom High and his first day of seminary.

 Faith is thrilled to be a first-grader at Cardinal Ridge Elementary where she gets to take the bus both ways to school and eat lunch in the cafeteria.

James is the typical seventh-grader at Lunsford Middle School who doesn't want to be bothered with photographic proof of this day.  And in case you missed it, that is three kids at three different schools with three different start times.  I'm exhausted just getting them out the door.  I want summer back!

Game Time

 James is playing football this year for the first time ever.  He devoted five nights a week to practicing two hours a night all of August.  Today was his first game, and it looks like we have something to do every Saturday for awhile.

Best Summer Ever

 Summer was so good to us.  We worked hard.  We played hard.  And in just three more days it will all come to an end.  We celebrated with one final pool day.  We even ordered pizza :)

 

Faith had an open house after the pool to meet her new teacher and see her classroom. It's getting real.

Summer Nights

I'm not ready to give up these fun summer nights.  Tonight we hung out with friends in the ward at the sand volleyball pit.  Love these girls: Phebe, Annalise, Ella and Hope

Air and Space and Goodbyes

 This week went too fast, and we had to say goodbye to Mammy and Tyler.  Before we took them to the airport, we took them to the Air and Space Museum by our house.  Hope, Faith and their friend Nicole in the air-traffic control tower.

 

Mammy, Spencer and Tyler with the Space Shuttle.

Safe travels Mammy and Tyler.  We miss you already.  Thanks for making our week so fun.

National Harbor and More DC

 Our adventures today took us to the National Harbor where we rode the giant ferris wheel.  

Faith, their friend Nicole and Hope

 James must have been impressed if he couldn't even stop reading to ride it.

 The Peeps store.

 We took the boys to Arlington Cemetery after National Harbor,  and we ended the day at the American History Museum on the Mall.  We walked these girls all over DC these past few days.  Hope had several melt downs, and she finally cried, "Why can't we do something we all want to do?"

 At least they had fun building cars out of cardboard at the museum.

DC Duck

 We have done a lot of things in DC, but we have never ridden the DC Ducks, and today was our lucky day.

 We caught our duck at Union Station in DC, and it took us on a tour both on land and in the water.

 Spencer and Tyler.  They look thrilled.

 Going into the Potomac.

 The kids were thrilled with these duck whistles.  I wasn't so thrilled.