When the Kids Go Back to School...

...the Mom and Dad spend the whole day together, doing whatever we want!

Granted, we had an adorable +1 this year, but it was a really great day. 

For me, one of the biggest treats about this day as that I'm not a single mother in the morning. For nearly fifteen years now, Bill heads out the door by 4:15, for a multitude of reasons, and so it's just me. Most of the time, it's totally fine and I don't even think about it because that's just the way it is. But on those days when he is home, I feel like I've won the lottery. 

And he makes the waffles around here, so...win win!

I shared some pictures of our beautiful children in this post. It was a smooth, rather peaceful morning. After the last one had gone- Isabelle has the later start this year- I walked around the house in a kind of daze and found myself smiling at the stillness. Not gonna lie, the quiet was so, so beautiful. :)

Oh wait, did I say quiet? We still had THIS nugget on our hands!

We always think beach when we have some free time, so that's where we went. It was quite cool and foggy when we got into Portsmouth, but it actually felt terrific. We parked over on Pierce Island and walked along the water's edge, then walked over the little bridge to Prescott Park.

If you've ever visiting the Portsmouth area, you should visit Prescott Park in the summer or early fall. It's spectacular! Every summer they put on a play during the weekends, and you can rent tables and buy dinner, or spread out a blanket and bring your own picnic. It was Mary Poppins this year and I wanted to go SO badly, but we just could not make it work with Levi's bedtime schedule. (Now that he's sleeping better, no, we don't mess with his schedule!) The plays are free to the public but of course they gladly accept donations.

 checking out the bumble bees and other bugs buzzing around the gorgeous flowers

 someone doesn't look too enthused about all the pretty flowers

such a neat little treasure!

Also, all you're really going to see from here on out is pictures of Levi playing on the playground, and Levi eating lunch, and Levi crawling on the sand. Don't say I didn't warn you, ha ha, so feel free to skip ahead. :)

This is back on Pierce Island. It's a beautiful place to bring a picnic and a book and spend a couple hours. Or a soccer ball and frisbee to play in the wide open areas. It's just a great place to visit.

Levi went through an entire battery of emotions here at the top of the big slide. Confidence, uncertainty, determination, fear... sweet little guy. 

Mommy went through an entirely different set of emotions: where has my baby gone?!?!? Waaaaaah!

 and those wispy hairs slay me :)

 He did it!

I have some videos of him going down all by himself...my big boy!

In the past, we've walked through downtown Portsmouth and eaten in the restaurants overlooking the water. But we thought it best for our +1's sake to grab something and eat at the beach.

 we had some subs and maybe a cannoli or two, Levi got fries and nuggets- ooh la la

Do I look windswept here?

Crazy wind, but it was warm and sunny so it felt nice.

baby yoga :)

Levi has been doing this all week and it has to be the funniest thing I have ever seen.

He is fully aware of the reaction it gets him, so of course when he's being naughty and caught in the act, he will flop flat to the floor and then raise up like this, just waiting for all to be forgiven.

ha ha ha ha

Thankfully he slept a little on the way back home, and then we heard tales from everybody's first day- all good, which was so nice to hear.

This was such a wonderful day, but truth be told, it has been a very sad week for me. I know there is so much suffering in Texas, and that's been hard to read and hear about, and also, one of my best friends just said goodbye to her mother rather suddenly. Our families have been friends for ages, so I grew up going to their house and vice versa. Last Saturday, early in the morning, I got a frantic call from Trisha, my friend, that her Mom was admitted to the hospital the night before for some tests and things- she had had a slow-growing cancer that had recently flared up, as well as complications from Lyme Disease- but that doctors had actually discovered several new cancers, all stage 4, and one was causing severe clots, and so she suffered several strokes, which deteriorated her condition quickly. I'm so thankful, though, that she had moments of clarity and was able to say goodbye before she died peacefully early Thursday morning. She looked me straight in the eyes when we visited, and I know she recognized me, and I was trying so hard not to break down and cry, because it's all just devastating watching someone you love suffer and watching their loved ones suffer through these final goodbyes. It's so hard growing up and losing the people who were always just there, always a part of your life. And maybe I just figured that they always would be. But of course that isn't how life works. Time marches one. People grow old. And they leave us, for now anyway.

And he who was sits upon the throne says, "Behold, I am making all things new."

And he also said, "Write, for these words are faithful and true."

Revelation 21:5