Bye beach and back to school

Well, summer for the most part has come to a close. We said farewell to summer at the beach. Alek and Maks were very excited their cousins, Joe and Reilly were coming down.
We knew it had the potential for chaos but it would be fun. Saturday, post Earl, was beautiful. Would never know a hurricane skirted past the coast. The sun was shining all day. We enjoyed sitting in the sand and watching the kids play. Of course there was alot of reprimanding, 3 boys will do that. But the kids got along well, it was just a matter of keeping them out of trouble.
We closed out the day with another campfire on the beach. It was a chilly night, so it was nice to sit there with a sweatshirt on and cozy up to the fire.

Sunday brought some outlet shopping for me and then more sun and sand. It was gorgeous and the kids were enjoying the water. Sadly our fun was cut short when Reilly was hit with a flying shell or stone, not sure which. A small cut above the eye warranted an ER trip and some glue to close it up. She was a serious trooper and was rewarded with some yummy gelato from Grotto and a balloon. The boys all learned a serious lesson of what can happen when you mess around and dont listen! Thankfully Reilly was no worse for the wear and I am sure there wont be much of a scar!
The cousins headed home sunday night and we stayed for one more night. It was hard on Monday to take that last walk on the beach knowing summer was quickly leaving us. I am sure I will be back down this month, but its still not the same. Just love a summer day at the beach!
We headed back home and got organized and ready for the first day of school! The boys were excited for their new adventures and new backpacks!

The next morning, they posed for their obligatory front yard photos and we were off. We took Maks to LL for his first day in Miss B's kindergarten class (his 1st of 2 yrs). His only concern was making sure he didn't have to nap in her class! Alek and I wished Maks good luck and headed to his school. He was going to before school care as his bus comes too late for me to get to work by 9. We walked into the cafeteria and the teachers were all making a big fuss and a big welcome. I could tell he was a little nervous and then his friend K came running over and gave him a big hug. I knew he was relieved to see her and ran off right away. The woman who coordinates the morning session happened to be the woman we bought our house from, so that was nice. She was so sweet. Alek settled right in.
I drove off, tears in my eyes, my baby is in 1st grade, where did the time go?
The boys both reported great days. They love their teachers and enjoyed their days. Maks was very happy to go to recess instead of nap time and Alek loved the big playground at school.
It was great to know they are happy during the day. They love school and get excited over each new adventure.
I was cracking up Friday morning as I dropped Alek off. We walked by his classroom and were looking at the picture they all drew over what they did this summer. I was looking for Alek expecting to see a beach picture or amusement park or zoo. Instead it was a treehouse/swingset picture which stated I love playing in my cousin Jakeys treehouse. He was there twice this summer. I cracked up. Like I said before Jakey is a rockstar in Alek's eyes.

So we are now in full force fall mode. Alek is playing baseball and will start spanish club one morning a week before school. He will restart hockey lessons as well.
Maks starts tennis lessons next week and is very stoked for this experience.
I have already begun to hear what birthday theme Maks wants (changes daily) and what Halloween costumes they would like. I am sure I will blink and it will be October.