First Day of School - 2023

The kids started school on August 24th this year and will ultimately be leaving the house at three different times in the morning.  For the first day, though, the girls both left at the same time and I managed to grab our traditional First Day of School pictures even if it was still pretty dark out.

First day of 10th Grade:

First Day of 7th Grade:

Steve always hangs out for a bit before heading into work so that he can see the kids off to school on their first day each year:

Just two girls waiting for the bus together with their popular (but expensive) Stanley water bottles:

Jimmy surprised us by waking up early and jumped in with the girls for a quick picture:

First Day of 2nd Grade:

First Day of 5th Grade:

Next year, Jack will be entering the Middle School and we will just have one last kiddo at the Elementary School:

Waiting for their bus pick-up, which is exactly one hour later than the girls' pick-up:

Like last year, Samantha will be taking "zero hour" again and doing Jazz Band.  Once that starts, she will need to leave the house at 6:30 am (Steve will drop her off at the high school before he heads into work) and than Sophia will be picked up at 7:00 am by the bus and the boys will be picked up at 8:00 am by their bus.  

When the school system integrated this split system for the buses last year, I was convinced that I would hate it -- so many different pick-up and drop-off times.  But, I have grown to enjoy it because it means less chaos and rushing in the mornings for us.  Plus, the girls arrive home an hour earlier than the boys, giving them time to settle in and begin homework before the noisier ones get dropped off.

Here's to another great school year!

Grand Haven

On a whim, we decided on Saturday morning that we would pack up and head to the beach in Grand Haven with the kids.  We'd make it a day trip, spending time in the sun and in the water, visit the American Legion (where Steve and I are both members) and then grab an early dinner on the way home.

Little did we know that there would be a big parade in town that day, so parking was a tad more scarce than we planned on.  But -- we made it work.  And with the kids now older and responsible for most of their own items, we lugged our bags and parked ourselves in a great location in the sand.

We even brought our own flag to stick in the sand!  It was very patriotic, but also let the kids know exactly where we were located when they came out of the water.

My crew:

Jimmy is capable of swimming without a life jacket now, but I always feel much safer knowing that he has one on and he doesn't mind.  It gives him more freedom, as well.

The water seemed pretty chilly!

When this picture was taken, Jack was back on the beach preparing for a shoveled masterpiece:

Warming up for a bit:

Some of the best trips are the impromptu ones!

That flamingo towel has been her favorite one for the last 5 years.  It has gotten so much use!

Working as a team to see just how deep they can make that hole ...

... apparently deep enough for Sam to fit inside of it!

Even Jimmy found his way deep into the sand!

On our way home, we stopped for Mexican food and it was wonderful!  Everyone was a little sunburned (not much, though); full of sand; thirsty; but happy to have been able to get away for the sun and waves before we start back to school later this month.