So long summer

The remaining weeks of August have been interesting to say the least.

We have been soaking up as much sun and fun as we can while getting ready for school.

The school supplies are purchased, the boys know who their teachers are and their bus schedules. So the countdown until 1st day was on.
Alek is excited for 2nd grade and says he is happy about who his teacher is. Maks is excited for kindergarten. The first day of school is orientation day for Maks, so we will go to his class with him. I will try hard to hold it together, my baby off to kindergarten.

Maks continues to enjoy soccer and he has his great moments and not so great moments, but it is entertaining to watch! Alek continues with fall ball practice and loves it. First games start soon.

So we were winding down our summer days, planning our Labor Day trip to NH and another beach weekend prior to that. But Mother Nature had other plans.

On August 23rd I was working in my office when it felt like something was shaking and swaying, a picture frame fell down and I felt really off balance, it was the most bizarre feeling.

After a few minutes I walked out of my office and everyone was confused and wondering what the heck just happened. Yes it was an earthquake, 5.8 centered in VA, but felt all the way up the East Coast. No one knew what to do, so security evacuated our building. We all were milling about in the parking lot, checking on loved ones. I got through quickly to the boys camp and they were all fine. Kevin didn't even feel it! Needless to say, one earthquake was enough for me for a lifetime, I do not know how those West Coasters live with that!! But it definitely made the day more exciting and something I will never forget!

And then came Irene, Hurricane Irene. It was discussed and evaluated on the news for a week prior, probably a bit overboard, but ya never know, so best to be prepared. It was like a snowstorm prep on caffiene, crazy how quickly the water, bread and peanut butter sold out! We prepared with lots of snack foods, water, beer, juice boxes and wine. If we were going to be hunked down all weekend, we were going to enjoy ourselves!

Irene definitely brought a lot of wind and rain, most of it overnight on Saturday night, I never heard wind that loud, I barely slept, especially after the tornado warnings/watches came. I couldn't decide if I should wake everyone up and go to the basement, so I just laid there and waited. Sunday was less rain, but still lots of wind. Thankfully our house was fine, no water, no wind damage.

Irene wasn't as kind to New England, so our NH trip was cancelled. We were bummed but re-grouped and decided to hear the other direction to the beach house. The boys were extra excited because their cousins were going to come down too.

I was surprised at how the beach looked once we got there. Pop and Noni's street was really muddy and everyone was out still trying to clean up. The back and side yard were a mess, still with water and still all muddy.

Lots of debris in the backyard too. We watched a neighbor walking through the marshes looking for his crab traps that floated away.

It was wild to see the dunes, alot of the grasses were gone and there was a lot more sand pushed up. Lots of debris all over the beach still. The tides were still high and the street flooded at high tide.

The street flooding cancelled the annual labor day picnic, but we had our own.

Saturday was absolutely gorgeous on the beach. Joe and Reilly came down and the kids had such a blast all day together. Maks asked about every ten minutes if he could go back to the house.

After making him stay out for 4 hours, Kevin took him and Reilly back to the house and the rest of us stayed and relaxed on the beach and watched Alek and Joe play. They dont see each other too often, but they sure enjoy every minute they spend together.

I know Pop and Noni loved having everyone down there together. It is chaotic but it is fun.

We wound up throwing together a whole bunch of appetizers for dinner, buffett style. The kids watched movies, we hung out, drank some wine and relaxed.

The next morning after the usual yummy pancake breakfast we headed back down the beach for a bit. It was low tide so the kids ran right out to the sand bar and scared all the gulls away.

Pretty soon it was time for the cousins to head out.

We packed up as well and then went out to lunch with Pop and Noni to our favorite pizza, Grotto! Had our last Grotto of the summer and then headed on our way. Made at pitstop at my favorite Willy's market since Kevin had never been there, bought some goodies and headed home.

The weather the rest of the holiday weekend wasn't great, but we got all our school stuff organized and ready for the big day! Then we enjoyed our special Happy School Year dinner of burgers, hot dogs, tortellini salad, corn, watermelon and peaches. Yummy-we sat out back and enjoyed our last grill out of the summer.

Pretty soon it was time to wrap it up and get a good night's sleep for school. Alek would have his 1st full day and Maks would have kindergarten orientation. We were all excited, there is something fun about the start of school.

I had my tissues ready, my baby was starting kindergarten.....