End of Summer

It looks like quite a while since I last posted anything.. so I am way overdue. We have been having a good year. I’ve tried to keep pretty busy this summer with different activities. It was recommended by the lady that has horses (that Alex likes to ride) that she get some lessons. So I found a lady who offered them and had Alex out riding a few times this summer. The lessons frequently get canceled because of weather, but she is progressing. She even got to get the horse going a bit faster (like a trot) in her last lesson. She was thrilled to get to go faster.

We also spent most family days on some sort of adventure. We got a parking pass for the Great Smokey Mountain part this year and have been focusing our hikes to the park. Last week we went down to Cataloochee Valley and explored. We also found a nice easy hike to take my sister and her family on when they get here. The hike has two waterfalls and is not too long. We also have had the pleasure of seeing a couple of bears this year (from the safety of our car). One was a bear cub in a tree and the other was on the side of the road in the GSMNP.

We also have had season passes to Dollywood this year. We have gone most months. David is much braver than before and goes on all the rides that he is tall enough for. In the heat of the summer we wore clothes to get wet and rode the water rides. I think that was the favorite of the kids. We did have a lot of laughs as we got splashed and sprayed.

I decided to start the kids a bit early for school this year because of a big trip in the Spring. David is in Kindergarten and Alex in 2nd grade. I was worried about how David would transition to “mandatory” school rather than just working when he was in the mood (as we did for preschool), but he has been great about it. Alex was the harder one to get back into the swing of things. But now we are a month in, and things are much smoother. It does take a bit of juggling to get all the assignments done. Neither kid works well independently yet and so I am constantly jumping back and forth between kids. It’s a busy day, but they are both doing well. Alex is at the point where she reads most things she sees. She even offers to read bible passages in Sunday School. David is reading CVC words, and we are working to get him away from sounding out each individual sound and doing more blending.

This year the kids have chosen Soccer as their sport. That should start next week. They were excited to pick out their own soccer balls for practice. Alex will have one practice during the week and then games on Saturdays. David will just have a short practice before his Saturday games. So it looks like this season will have our Saturdays pretty full.

I planted quite a bit of things in the garden this year, but not much came up. I have some volunteer cherry tomatoes and zinnias that are doing very well. I also have a cucumber plant that went crazy. We have harvested more than 10 big cucumbers from it and there are still some growing. I tried several different pepper plants and finally two of them are big enough to start flowering. Hopefully we get a few peppers before the cold sets in. I also planted a TON of Sunflowers and none have grown. I planted them all over the various garden beds and I only saw one sprout (then get eaten by bugs). The last couple years have not been good for my sunflowers.

The Community Band has been going well. The band keeps sounding better and better. We had a concert at the Lake last Sunday and have another one next Sunday (same program). I also proposed to the band board the addition of an “entry level” band. They all thought it was a great idea, so I am running with the idea and will start this new ensemble next month. The group will be called the “Take Two” Band. I have about 10 people signed up to play secondary instruments, or dust off instruments they haven’t played in a number of years. I even wrote an article for the local paper to announce it. I am looking forward to the teaching aspect of the band. The large ensemble is more about putting the pieces together and fine tuning, but this group will allow me to teach. This group will be added to Thursdays, so I do not have another evening commitment.. but will make for a long evening for me.

Our Fall schedule is definitely filling up, but it should be a fun season. More band, Soccer, School, Family visits, and a trip to the beach. We are ramping up again, but the kids are looking forward to our upcoming activities.