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Lucy got her first library card this morning.

Nothing says summer like a nice lobster boil. We didn’t have the traditional country summer that we’re used to. No root beer floats or hamburgers on the grill. No picking raspberries at night before bed or making s’mores by the fire pit. No 4th of July parade or fireworks. Not even one beach trip! Not that I regret our England summer for one second, in fact I would give up our summer traditions every year to travel. but there is something about these lobsters that we just can’t give up. 

When the kids were little they used to beg Jon to chase them around with the lobsters and scream with delight. It’s less amusing to teenagers. 

Now that we’ve had our lobster boil I’m ready for fall. Bring on football and jambalaya tailgates! 

A few weeks ago I bought my dream camera. It takes such amazing pictures but sometimes life is too busy to take out a camera so I’m thankful that I always have my phone in my hand.

I love finding Lucy selfies on my phone

Back to school haircut

Birthday dinner with Marlene, Brian and the girls

My cheerleader

Our annual back to school dinner. We talked about their goals for the year.

Twins

2nd day of school

A few shots from this weekend.
Emma started her classes this morning. I was hoping that she would’ve had someone take a first day of school photo for me but I’m sure that didn’t happen. Jon is off to London and the girls are at school. This house is too quiet.

 Megan started high school yesterday. She was a little nervous before the day started but ended up having a great day. She said that having a few upper classmen for friends helped a lot. Not one of them gave her wrong directions to her class! 

 

 

 

Chloe also had a great day!  Her favorite teacher from 5th grade moved up to 7th grade this year and Chloe is in her class! All of Chloe’s closest friends are in her class this year too. I have a feeling it’s going to be a great year for her! 

Lucy loves her new teacher too! It’s the same teacher that Chloe had in first grade so I’m sure Lucy will do well. She was really upset when she got off the bus yesterday though. She has a new bus driver and she misses Donna. She asked last night if I could call Donna up and ask her to pick her up anyways. Poor Lucy.

 

Jon and I moved Emma into school this morning. She wasn’t suppose to move in until Sunday but she got a job at the school and training starts tomorrow. I’m so happy that Jon was able to move some work things around in London and fly home early.

She didn’t seem too nervous about leaving. She did seem a little sad about leaving her sisters though.

That’s a little sneak peek of her room 🙂 she finished unpacking after we left.

After we got her settled in we took her out to lunch. This was my fortune. Hers said something about a new adventure and Jon’s said something about money. We had a good laugh at that one.
All these weeks building up to this moment have been emotional. I would find myself tearing up over every little thing. The move today was tear free. She’s ready! I’m so excited for her and couldn’t be more proud!
I’m thankful that Jon and I had the opportunity to take these kids away for the summer and spend that quality, uninterrupted time with them. Life is just flying by now!

Emma is my guest poster for today. Here’s what she has to say about leaving:

As a freshman in high school, I didn’t have a clue who I was. I quickly learned that the girls I befriended in middle school would not be by my side in high school, which left me alone and friendless in a sea of people. My family supported me but I wanted to connect with people my own age again. Instead of forcing my friendship, I immersed myself in books, movies, and music. Before long, I had a new group of friends that I spent the summer with.

Sophomore year was spent with the various problems boys cause. I took on two math classes back to back and strengthened my friendships but still spent a lot of time at home with my family, watching Patriots games and crying when the Pats made it to the Superbowl and Welker neglected to catch Brady’s Hail-Mary pass. I had a sweet sixteen party with my extended family and a few friends and the feeling of love and belonging surrounded me and filled me with warmth well into the summer months.

My first day of school Junior year was greeted with a new group of friends that fit into my old group. Since meeting them, I have never laughed so hard, had so many adventures, or had so many ice cream cones. I was busy with field hockey, tennis, and student council events that my mother patiently drove me too every day. At the end of the Relay For Life event that takes place at the end of every school year, I found myself in my friends car with another friend, looking out over the soccer field as we waited for the sun to rise. Instead, it began to drizzle lazily and as the music played in the background, I found myself in an euphoria of happiness. I couldn’t believe that I only had a year left with my friends.

Senior year was met with disbelief. I couldn’t believe that I had just attended my last high school football game while I attended that high school. I couldn’t believe I was no longer friends with my best friend. I couldn’t believe that I thought I could take on the work load of 3 AP classes and all honors courses. I couldn’t believe that I passed all of my classes with good marks. I couldn’t believe the nights I spent driving around with my friends would one day come to an end. I couldn’t believe that was my last tennis match with the best teammates I could have asked for. I couldn’t believe this would be my last prom as I danced wildly with my friends to the bad pop music. And as I sat in my chair after accepting my diploma at graduation, I couldn’t believe that I would no longer get another year at school with these people. I walked out of the gymnasium numb with this realization that I pushed to the back of my head when my friends hugged me with excitement, all proclaiming that they were so thankful this chapter of their lives was finally over. I thought on my way home, freshman year was figuring out who I was, sophomore year was accepting other people as they were, junior year was letting people in and senior year was letting people go.

I spent those few weeks between graduation and my trip to London with my friends going to graduation parties and having sleep overs. While in London, I didn’t talk to them much at all and spent most of my time with my sisters. We were all forced to sleep in a bedroom together and for five weeks I thanked God that I didn’t have to share a room with anyone when I got back. But then I realized that not only would I be sharing a room in college, I’d be spending it with strangers. I found myself wondering about my classes and teachers when I wouldn’t be returning to my high school. I wondered how my friends were doing as I sat in London cafes and shopped in Soho. On the London Eye I saw how London was surrounded my mountains in the distance and no one could tell because we were all so focused on what was immediately in front of us.

When I came back to the US, I breathed in the air that was no longer filled with smog and smoke. I felt at peace. I saw my grandparents and friends that night and continued to see them up until the week I left. One was going to boot camp, another was going to a nearby college and still others were working and figuring out what they were going to do now that they were no longer children. With everyone leaving, I found myself spending more and more time with my family. I had gotten so close to them in London and closer to my mom still when I came home from school and had an hour between the time I was home and the time my sisters would arrive home. I found out I would be moving into college a week before I thought and was hit with panic. I had to pack up everything I had from the last eighteen years into some boxes, leave my furniture to my sisters, and set off on an adventure that wouldn’t include my family or my friends. 

High school prepared me, minimally, for what I was going to do when I left. I thought on my way home from graduation of how it had influenced me. Freshman year was figuring out who I was, sophomore year was accepting other people as they were, junior year was letting people in, and senior year was letting people go. 

My family was always there for me through all the turmoil high school can cause. I’ll miss the drives to school in the morning with my dad, the drives home from it with my mom. I’ll miss annoying my sisters and having them annoy me. I’ll miss Daisy running around the house at full speed whenever someone walked through the door, even if we had just been gone five minutes. I’ll miss spending my weekends watching football and basketball with them, doing homework at the kitchen table, watching my sisters play and read and watch television. I know that my summers and vacations home from school will be filled with this but it’s one of the things I’ll miss leaving behind.

Today was our last full day here in London. The girls and I took one last walk around the Serpentine River

After Jon got out of work we took a walk to the Peter Pan statue in Kensington gardens. The field was covered with fairy houses

We all had a great time over the last 5 weeks, not that there weren’t some challenges along the way, but overall an amazing experience. I’m going to miss the city life but I’m looking forward to some clean country air!!

Jon had to work on Saturday so I took the girls to the Albert and Victoria Museum. This was our favorite museum of the trip!!

Saturday night I met Jon in Soho for date night.
Sunday we took the train to see Windsor Castle. It was incredible! The little town was so lovely too! We spent a few hours there walking around. It was nice to get out of the city for a few hours.

It was a great way to end our time here in London.