One Last Time

I couldn't let the summer go by without a blog post title alluding to my favorite Hamilton song!  Hahaha.  And summer has officially gone by.  The first week of school has drawn to a close, and thankfully, I can say that it did, indeed, get better.  We still haven't quite figured out the morning bus situation for everyone -- and Grace's junior high buses continue to stump us -- but we live close enough that it's not too big a deal to hop in the car and get to where we need to go.  At least for now.  Seminary for Ethan starts next week, and that will be a new wrench to throw in the plans and we'll have to adjust accordingly.

But enough about all that school stuff!!!  This post is dedicated to the best summer ever!  {Although, my kids like to inform me that it hasn't been as awesome as I think it has been.}  For the last week and a half before school started, I had the kids all choose something that they wanted to do "one last time" before the summer was over.  Here is what they settled on:

{And in case you can't tell by the pictures, everything is more fun with friends.  :) }

• Bowling

 G-Dog 1 & 2 with Isaac

(Pizza afterwards was a must.)

• Chuck E. Cheese

 (The girls hit the jackpot on this machine and they were STOKED.)

 Hahahahahaha.  I love all their facial expressions!

 Alex with his buddy Keleni and his little brother Thomas.

 {Thanks to that jackpot, the girls earned almost twice as many tickets as the boys.}

• Cliff Jumping

 Jane shocked us all by jumping off the high cliff!

 Isaac and his buddy Rudger are just too cute for words!

• Attending a Gala

 Scott and I got to attend another fundraiser gala for work.  This one was extra fancy schmancy.

 The theme was the color Raspberry -- so that's what all the decor was and that's what everyone was supposed to wear.  It was a bit much.

 Check out those courses!

(We felt TOTALLY out of place.  The highest bid for a live auction item was $37,000.  What the bunny sauce???)

• Creating our own Youth Gala

 For the last Friday of summer, we invited a bunch of friends over for a Game Night/Gala of our own.  

 (It was a lot of fun.)

 (Sophie and Jane were particularly pleased to be included with the "big kids.")

 After playing "the celebrity game," a few kids decided to break out our newest game -- Awkward Family Photos.  It was pretty hilarious!  

And there you have it -- the best summer ever is over.  :(  However, if the fact that I'm already listening to Christmas music is any indication, I'm ready to move on and I'm getting SUPER excited for the holidays!  Let the good times roll {again}!!!