Where did August go?

Dang, August has flown by! We kicked off the month by doing collections work for the RHSMB Mega Garage Sale, and then the next week we volunteered for setup, as well as working the super early morning shift. The garage sale raised a TON of money for the RHS band, and it also made me realize that we buy way too much stuff in this country.

I was very, very good and spent only around $10 at the garage sale on some neat finds (Ava talked me out of a few things....) There is a definite benefit to volunteering to help out with setup - you get to see everything that comes in and you can buy stuff before it's open to the general public. This sale would be amazing to hit up if you've got a kid going off to college. So many great deals, and the teams did a fantastic job organizing and pricing it all.

In the last few weeks, we also squeezed in swimming lessons, wrapped up the summer session of taekwondo, attended endless marching band rehearsals, enjoyed a few book club events, did a walk-thru of Ava's 9th grade schedule, went on some super fun field trips in the Summer Power program, and even hung out at birthday party that we stayed at for SIX hours (G and I had fun!)

Of course Scott and I both worked, did chores, saw/talked with some friends and family, and even made time to sleep (not a lot, though.) I cannot believe that it's nearing the end of the month, and Ava goes to high school in a few weeks, with G heading into 3rd grade the week after that.

We're looking forward to watching the RHSMB perform at the MN State Fair this Thursday. Scott and I took the day off of work, and will be heading to the state fair with G and Grandma Deb. We need to make a list of all of the food we can eat while we're there! But we can't stay too long because we'll need to get back for G's Open House at the school that night. It'll be nice to meet his teacher and get his school supplies tucked safely into his desk.

Ava and I picked up a Pup Cup for Pria at Caribou...such an easy treat for our sweet girl!

"It's empty!?"

G earned his third stripe on his orange belt. He was SO excited to be ahead of Ava!

Yesterday (Friday) I took the day off and spent it with Ava. We got her hair cut, enjoyed Caribou for breakfast, ran to Target, did a few boring errands like dropping stuff off at the Recycling Zone and getting gas, and then we headed to the Mall of America for a shopping extravaganza! It was so much fun to spend the day with Ava. She's such a kind and pleasant person to be around. We still have a few more things to pick up, so we're going to hit up the outlets on Sunday afternoon to see if we can cross off the rest of our list!

Pria is such a wonderful, calm dog. Every day, I am so thankful that she joined our family!

Hiding under the curtains

Taking a snooze, snuggled up next to me in bed

This gets me every time...she wags her tail in her sleep. Such a happy girl!

Totally random, but saw this first little guy on a window while I was at the local brewery with friends, and then the 2nd guy was hanging out on our front porch step. He was so tiny and I was worried he was going to get squished!

This weekend is the first one in a really long time where we haven't had any big plans, or any time constraints. It has been wonderful to be able to relax and not worry about a schedule. This should put us all in a good state of mind for a very busy upcoming week!