More Freckles

 The kids started school in August, but it's really now with the passing of Labor Day that I know summer is over.

We sure had a great one filled with lots of memories.

 

 There were trips to the beach with rocks to climb and tide pools to explore.

 

And there was a mommy-daughter trip to Portland to visit our best friends who moved away at the end of the school year.

 Which was promptly followed by a second trip to Portland because we couldn't bear to stay away (and loved our time there so much).

There were many trips to the pool and many, many loads of laundry consisting of only towels and bathing suits.

And there are more freckles on our noses and calluses on our feet, but our hearts are full from a summer well spent.

A Hot One

 This past week was a hot one.  Crazy hot, really.  The week ended with the long Labor Day weekend, and we've enjoyed lots of fun in the sun.

 I took Orelia to go see Leap, a movie where an orphan girl aspires to be a ballerina in Paris.  Orelia, true to form, had to dress the part for the event.

 She's still wanting me to take photos every morning before school, and I'm loving this part of our morning routine.

I blew up our new "baby" pool one afternoon, and the kids took it for a test run/splash.

Orelia has adjusted well to her new school routine, and is coming home every day mentioning a new name as she gets to know her classmates better.

Bennett also started school this week (more on that later), but also had an intensive dental appointment where he had to go under anesthesia for 2.5 hours.  

It was a bit traumatic for me, but once the anesthesia had worn off and Bennett took a nap in his own bed, he was as good as new.  He mentioned once how he felt something in his teeth (likely the new sealants they added since he has so many cavities at such a young age), but otherwise was just content to play with all the new trucks I gave him as a distraction.

He appears to be one of the people who have rotten luck in the dental department, and we now have to do all the brushing and flossing for him (not surprisingly, he isn't too keen on this), and we are going to do our best to limit his snacks to less processed foods that get lodged in teeth easily.  He is doomed to likely have more cavities coming down the pike, but the goal is to keep them to a minimum (especially while he is so young and it's difficult to fill the cavities).

 Luckily after the hellish Dental Day, everything was back to normal around here.

 Orelia decided to dress as a ballerina after receiving a new ballet skirt for a belated birthday present.

 She was very inspired by the movie Leap, clearly.

The next few days were hot, hot, hot, so Orelia donned some bathing suits for the water (re: mud) play at school.

We had a nice relaxing weekend with lots of pool time (Orelia seems to swim better every day, and Bennett is having a blast in his floaties) and delicious food cooked on the grill.  Hope everyone had a great long weekend!