The end of August

I wanted to post the last few pictures of August, and then we have a fresh start for September and FALL!  

The week before school started, Eli went with some friends to the Arboretum and had a blast...

We also met some friends at Splash Kingdom for a day.  We had the park basically to ourselves!  Eli and Victoria have been friends since being in the same primer class at PCCS, and we still get together every summer at their request.  They fall right back into sync the minute they see each other and beg to get together again soon.  I love that!  And I love catching up with Victoria's mom, who is such a sweet friend.

We had CJ over to spend the night for one last "bash" before school started, but I forgot to take a picture!

And the next day we had Jenny and her kiddos over to swim with us.  I love Hunter's cute smile in this picture. :)

Hank turned THREE and got giant bone as his present.  

And just like that the summer was over and Eli started FOURTH GRADE!  I can't believe that he is this big, this grown up, this old...  it seems like just yesterday that I was walking him up to his first day of primer!

Eli is an absolute delight- funny, compliant, good-natured, so much fun, smart, a wonderful friend, and so tender-hearted. We are so proud of him and excited for all the great things God has in store for him this year.  We are thankful for his great school and teacher and friends at PCCS.  I love knowing that he is loved and cared for and so happy there, even as my heart aches a little at the end of summer and the start of another school year.

We're excited for the long weekend coming up and have a couple fun things planned, but mostly we're just going to enjoy some extra time to rest after a busy first couple weeks of school.  After Labor Day we'll start back up with Awana, and he's already full-swing in his karate program.  We're looking forward to a great fall semester.  

Happy September!  :)