On the eve before a new school year

We had a great summer.  A really great summer.  Those are the words that have come out of our mouths whenever someone has asked us how our summer was.  Yes, our summer was awesome.  Great family memories.  Fun times.  Lots of time spent together.  I will truly miss the summer of 2016.

But this past week we definitely hit the good old "Phase 3".....as in "we need to get back on a schedule because we are all going a little batty around here" phase.  I wanted to finish well.....but also have a lot of time around the house.  We spent a good 75% of our time around the house, mostly in our pjs, building forts and lego creations.  I did not take a single picture of that time mainly due to laziness.  I did happen to catch the other 25% of our time.  I feel this 25% is a misrepresentation of what we actually did these past two weeks.  It makes our weeks look fun and adventurous when we mainly played legos in our pajamas and only occassionly left the house but oh well...here goes...

The Buttered Corn Days in my grandmas town.  Always a hit.  Free corn, pop, polka music....what's not to love.

The kids danced and danced this year to the polka.....

Isaac's close friend wanted to take us out on the jetski one afternoon....twist our arms.....

And we made it down to see friends in Iowa.  Of course I didn't think to get a single picture with any of them.....but I did grab a few pictures at our old favorite stomping ground....

And this is what I do when Andie is at a birthday party and Craig is stopping at work.....

Taking an hour to play at one of our favorite local gems....Triple Falls....

So we dog sat a LOT in August.  Here we are taking our youth pastors dog out into the woods!!

And the floating bridge is rarely floating but definitely was this year with all the rain.  Unfortunately the mosquitoes were at an all time high as well.  Not cool.

Decided to try a little "Intro into Mountain biking" with my favorite girl.  Learned a lot, had fun, got attacked by mosquitoes.

What to do when it is warm but your mom is over going to the swimming pool.  Beach day at our local lake!  Had the place to ourselves.  Gotta love the Land of 10,000 Lakes.  We took full advantage of them this summer.

A little thing about my boys.  I am so incredibly thankful these two have each other.  They have grown to be best buds.  They are always up to something together.  They can usually be found giggling or wrestling or both.  Here they were playing bumper boats and having a grand old time.  Isaac has grown into taking on a big brother role and Caleb really looks up to him.  This summer has really strengthened their bond and I am just enjoying watching them grow as brothers.

And one more trip to the zoo to keep mama sane......because I can only do legos and forts so many days in a row.

This past weekend my cousin was married in the cities.  We had a big family reunion of sorts on Saturday and on Sunday my parents took us all to a baseball game for my birthday.  Isaac was super into the game this year and has declared his love for the Twins.

Nothing says baseball like eating a hotdog while watching the game.

Craig and Caleb were a little wore out from all the dancing and socializing the night before.....

But then it was time to get the rally hats going.

So we are all ready for another year around here.  The kids are more excited than nervous.  We have met the teachers and gotten back packs and clothes ready.  I may cry a little tomorrow but this isn't my first rodeo so I know the first day is one of the quieter and tougher ones for me so I have scheduled a fun activity for Caleb and I.  Summer of 2016....I will miss you.