We finished up summer break with a birthday visit to the local climbing gym with Jacobs friend Aidan. Summer birthdays are a bit of a crap shoot in my mind, we are always traveling, or the friends are traveling, so anyhow, glad we fit that in before school started anyway.
Swimming lessons were great for both boys. Jacob showing off his diving skills. Both boys became much more confident in all of their strokes. And loved the semi private lessons they got at our friends house this year.
Jacob friend, Aidan is an only child (except he does have a half sister that spends every other week with them). This trip she was with her mom, and they needed a buddy to travel with Aidan for a trip to RMNP. Jacob was thrilled to get to go, and they had a blast. I just wish it was me!
Instead I got to go back to school shopping and get myself organized for the school year. Actually, it was really nice to be home again, I loved all the fun things we got to see and do, but traveling takes its toll and tackling mountains of laundry and cleaning out backpacks have an oddly satisfying feel to them.
And just like that, they were off for the school year again. I always marvel that they can be this old already! This is a big year for my kids. Amanda begins her senior year of High school. Maren begins her first year of High School as a freshman, Spencer, his first year of middle school as a 6th grader, and Jacob is a 3rd grader and graduates from the little kid playground to the big kid one. Something he has looked forward to for a long while.
The first week of school, Jacob took a nasty fall on his bike while riding home. He was riding fast (too fast, he later admitted) and hit the curb of the gutter just right on his road bike. He flew off, and hit the ground hard. The impact left him with this nasty gash in his leg just below his knee. (I know the picture below will make some squimish, but I am betting very few read this any longer, and since it is part of our family journal, it is important to me it is in here.)
My friend saw him fall, and just happens to be nurse, so she picked him up and drove him to me. She told me I probably shouldn't look at it, but should take him to Dave immediately. It was bleeding too much for me not to look at it, but I held it together enough that I could drive him to Dave's clinic to get it stiched up. There was a bunch of stiches in there, two layers worth, but we got it cleaned up and Jacob was a trooper. He is pretty brave kid, but man I thought he was going to pass out a few times from the shock of it. He'll have a good scar to remember this one by.
And it wouldn't be back to school time, without celebrating Maren's birthday! We love this girl and spunk she brings into our house. There may be a few more eye rolls than there used to be, but she is still our happy, loving Maren, who does things her own way, and isn't afraid of what others think.
She turned 15, and we celebrated with homemade donuts, and a paddle board trip down the Colorado river with our friends the Roethels. A perfect way to celebrate when you are as adventurous as Maren is.
Amanda even joined in the fun, which get more and more rare these days. But she loves to paddleboard.
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