EVANS

How is summer over?!  It always go too quickly for me.  And my first baby started middle school!  I think she was about 90% excited and 10% nervous.  But off she went!  And I was sick to my stomach all day worrying about her.  Even though I knew she'd be fine, it's such a big school!  I was so glad to see her walk through that door and hear all about it.  She of course loved it!  And that definitely helps my nerves.  Is it wrong to just want your kids to stop growing up?!
Then about an hour later, Carson and Charlotte were ready to head to 4th and 1st grade!  Charlotte was SO excited to get to hold up that little one finger.  I got to walk them to school and give them one last big hug!  And then I came home and cried in my quiet kitchen for an hour.  It actually was a really rough week or two for me.  Listen, I'm not one of those moms who pretends to never get sick of her kids.  But something about Aubrey starting middle school and Charlotte, the baby, going full day really got me.  That phase of life with little kids at home is over.  They just keep getting one step closer to being gone, and I don't like it!!  I miss hanging out with Charlotte during the day.  Running errands and eating lunch alone is boring.  And yes, I have friends and a couple jobs and plenty to do, I just miss my kids when they're gone!  And for one last time, PLEASE stop growing up!!

Eclipse 2017!  People had been talking about this eclipse for MONTHS!  The only total solar eclipse visible in our part of the United States for 100 or more years!  Or something like that.  We had originally planned to drive up to Garden Valley and have an eclipse party and one last hurrah before school started.  However, as it got closer and reports were coming out about hoards of people descending on poor Idaho, airlines totally booked, rental cars sold out, etc. we decided we'd better just stay put.  As it turned out, I don't think it was quite as huge of an event as initially thought, but I did hear some horror stories of people getting stuck in really bad traffic.  But we got our glasses (I won't tell you what we paid for those babies from a scalper the day before), a few snacks and beverages, and had a mini-party at the Seeger's house.  And I will say, I thought the eclipse was super cool!  The whole thing lasted about two hours, and right at the full eclipse it got super cold and dark and was kind of crazy!  All the street lights and automatic house lights started coming on.  I seriously went from hot to getting a sweater!  And the shadows were crazy!  It was cool.  But I was glad to just be in our neighborhood!  





 





 

 





 

Brian and the kids continued their tradition of a backyard camp out.  We BBQ'd, roasted s'mores, played, and hung out around the fire until dark.  They got all cozy in the tent, and I headed in to my bed!  Perfect camp out if you ask me!