First Day of School

On August 17th, we kicked off a brand new school year with a 2nd grader, 5th grader, and 7th grader!

In Eagle River, elementary school goes through 6th grade, so this is Shelby's first year in middle school & first time riding a bus since 3rd grade! (COVID hit during her 3rd grade year, 4th & 5th grades were spent at a private school without buses, and last year was at a public school without any bus service.)

{The bus stop is almost a mile from our house, so we broke out the scooters and all joined Shelby to the bus stop for the first day. The weather was gorgeous!}

Then we came home, and these two were literally chomping at the bit to start their first day of homeschool together! They were literally chanting, "Homeschool! Homeschool! Homeschool!"

{watching Brady's math lesson video together, and Hadley is crocheting while she watches}

{making pumpkin chocolate chip cookies to celebrate a great first day!}

And a couple pictures from Shelby's Open House before the first day of school when we were able to get her schedule and set up her locker. Never in my school years did I ever have a full-size locker, and Shelby's very first locker is full-size, ha! Plus, she also gets a P.E. locker! It's so crazy to me! 

So far, all three kiddos have transitioned into the new school year beautifully. Shelby is loving every little thing about middle school and has joined the cross country team, which seems to be such a good fit for her! We are looking forward to a great year!

Summer Wrap-Up

 School started this past week, so it's time for one last summer post!

I take each of the kids on a special little one-on-one trip on their birthdays for a treat and to pick out a new book at Barnes & Noble. Brady couldn't fathom his sisters not joining us, so we all went! ;)  

I hope they never outgrow their habit of making themselves at home in a bookstore & reading on the floor in the middle of a book aisle! 

{Mirror Lake}

{Shelby's last Friday night "treat bowl" before braces. The kids watch a movie every Friday with popcorn, fruit snacks, and M&M's.  Popcorn & fruit snacks are on the no-no list for braces, so we wanted her last "treat bowl" for at least a year documented!}

The kids each earned a personal pan pizza from Pizza Hut from the library for completing their Summer Reading...it gave me all the feels thinking about Book It! from my elementary school days. 

We went to the Alaska Museum of Science & Nature in Anchorage on a rainy Saturday. We totally judged a book by its cover and had low expectations of the museum {very small and unassuming from the exterior}, but it was so wonderful! They even had a scavenger hunt for the kids, which made our experience so much richer! We were big fans. I left wishing every museum would have a scavenger hunt!

We had hiked Barbara Falls in Eagle River in the winter to see the frozen waterfall, so it was fun to do this hike again in the summer! We all enjoyed the opportunity to see it again in a completely new light.

{birthday thank you notes}

It never gets old that we can just ride our bikes or go for a short walk and end up on the bank of the Eagle River with this majestic view.

{new haircut requested by Brady}

{Hadley started guitar lessons this month!}

{Shelby ran with me a couple of times this month, and I was so proud of her!}

{Playing a couple rounds of Exploding Kittens with our neighbor on the deck}

August brought lots of new things for Shelby! She got her ears pierced, started wearing contacts, and got a much-needed hair cut!

Summer 2023, you were good to us! We have enjoyed vacations, hikes, library runs, slow mornings, playing cards & board games, bike rides, and soaked up as much time as possible with our friends & fam. Now, it's time to ring in a new school year! We are ready for 2nd, 5th, and 7th grades!