1st day of school

school started today-summer is officially done. we had a good run and i think everyone was ready for a change. they decided they wanted to ride the bus-we had a whirlwind morning and off they ran. luckily i made it out to get a picture before the bus arrived. 

sometimes a flurry of activity is a great distraction from feeling the weight of the fact that you have a 4th grader a 2nd grader and a kindergartner...

can't wait to hear how they day went-

 the water slide made a comeback-this time reinforced with a roll of carpet. they have been having a ball slipping, rolling, sliding and crashing.

 walks in the morning with ben

 i need to edit more of the pics we took on our impromptu excursion to st. louis. my great friend amanda graciously said yes when i texted to ask if i could bring all the kids to stay. now that is a good friend!
we took all the kids to the zoo-but rain threatened so we headed to the magic house. it was amazing. the kids and i stayed there all day-this was the outdoor water feature we did at the end.

painting on the new deck. bobby did a tremendous job-sanding and staining this wonderful new place to play and gather.