T-minus FOURTEEN!

I'll have a kindergartener in 14 days. EEEEEEEK!

I'm SO ready for Kaleb to start school - and I'm SO not! 

Our summer has been AMAZING! Not a dull moment around here. So many new things to experience and fun to be had. I'll miss these carefree sunny California days. 

For instance: Wednesday is "Lake Day," as the kids call it, where we meet up with our friends and spend the entire day on the lake playing and chatting and swimming and then top it off by getting frozen yogurt. Kaleb and Jaxon love these days because they know they can get up, put their swim trunks on and we head off to the lake to play with their new friends. You can't imagine how fun it's been and how awesome my new friends are. Really. These ladies are great and I'm considering myself one lucky girl to have gotten involved with such a fine group of moms. 

And speaking of which, we moms enjoyed our first "Girl's night out" away from our children. We spent a few hours on the terrace of a fine Italian restaurant getting to know each other over an adult beverage and 6 different desserts. It was absurdly fun! 

There's also pool days. 

Lake Wildwood has an incredible pool with the addition of this nifty 1.5 foot kiddie pool which I love because I can take a break from the water and the kids don't have to. 

This is Little Nemo (Jaxon). He swims entirely underwater with his goggles on and hasn't taken one single swimming lesson. He's very comfortable in water and has been keeping up with Kaleb and the other kids all summer. I'm very proud of his ability and his confidence. 

I've been teaching Kaleb arm strokes this summer. He's a very strong swimmer underwater but hasn't evolved much with his arm strokes. We were in the lake a few days ago practicing and he asked "Mom, were you in the Olympics?" I nearly died laughing. 

And then, there's my newly found beach volleyball. Just so happened there's a dad at our Wednesday Lake Day that just happens to organize 2 on 2 and 3 on 3 games. So my old love of this sport has been reborn. I played my first game on Friday night and haven't felt so alive in a long time! My body is still letting me know about it. :) 

There's also just plain old lake days. HA! 

We spent Saturday afternoon enjoying the water and the breeze in our face. Kaleb took his sandwich out on the tube and ate it on the lake. Made me grin.

Applying sunscreen. Note to self: buy stock in sunscreen if you plan to live here. And swim shirts are essential.

Buckets and shovels will keep a boy busy for several hours and I can lay under the umbrella reading a juicy romance novel - just because my muscles hurt too bad to do much else. 

We never forget to throw a few crackers for the ducks. 

Apparently Bocci Balls are a popular sport in these parts. 

We located a disc golf course today but opted to throw our frisbees on the baseball field. Eric bought a putter frisbee and has future plans of becoming a dis golfer. 

Back to school. 

We will need to go school shopping very soon. I'm super excited for this event and I know Kaleb will care very much about his wardrobe. We've purchased a new Mario lunch box and have a few school supplies courtesy of Grandma Bonnie!

I've also been baking a few goodies here and there and popping them in the freezer. With fresh veggies always at my fingertips, I can whip up some fantastic muffins or donuts.

Yes, I did say donuts.....

I'm pretty sure Kaleb will be super pumped to find these mini donuts in his lunch box. The beautiful thing: they're pretty good for you too. I have a donut maker which bakes them so no frying and I throw in all kinds of goodness like wheat germ, oat flour, ground flax and homemade applesauce to keep them moist and semi-sweet. I glaze them with a thin layer of maple icing and they're a hit. My picky eater ate THREE of them the other night. No one bothered to tell him they're healthy. Next on my list are zucchini donuts. 

As of August 4thish, we will be knuckling down and getting on school time schedule. Up at 7:15, breakfast, learning, playtime, lunch.....you get the idea, in hopes of making the first day a little bit easier for us all. Kaleb's school goes from 8:10 to 2:20 so I'm sure the first few weeks will be tiring for everyone until we get on the schedule. 

My little red head is starting school. He tells me he's going to be the smartest in his class. 

When they're not squabbling, they're really good friends. Will Jaxon miss Kaleb once he starts school.

 I think YES!