1st Day of School: part 1 & 2

Like everything else this year, school is a bit different for us now.  We have 5 kids going to 4 different schools in 3 locations, most of which have a 15 minute drop off window.  Thank God some of them can bike right now.  Let's start with Cecilia, the 2nd grader.

After a week, she is still pumped about school and wants to learn multiplication.

Rebecca is in 7th grade and a little less excited about school but more about seeing her friends again.

These two nut jobs came up with all these poses on their own.

I remembered to get one more shot of them with their masks on.  They were more interested in stay balloon going by them my picture.

Later in the week,  Patrick started 9th grade, high school!

Since he was the only starting that day, we took the full kids pictures too.  George wanted to be in the back.

I asked him to come out so I could see him better for a few pictures.

Then things got weird.

Becca had her first XC race of the year on Tuesday and ran a 17:10.  Patrick's 1st race is next Tuesday and he has band practice on night a week.  And of course, Scouts is still going with the Pack picking up some steam after a quiet-ish summer.  George and Mary start school after Labor Day so come back for more pictures early in September.

Confirmation At Last

Patrick was to be confirmed March 15th but the world shut down on March 14th.   Finally, on July 24th, the St. Patrick's class of 2020 were all confirmed and celebrated their graduation Mass.  I pulled out Patrick's 1st Communion banner and the stole Grandma Sullivan made for him sacrament dates embroidered on it.

I tried to look a little taller but it didn't work out for me.  Oh well, that's my life now.

Due to Covid regulations, only the parents and sponsors were allowed to attend.  Luckily we were able to sit right across the aisle from him.

Patrick sang the Psalm being the only 8th grader in the school choir.

Patrick asked Justin Cody to be his sponsor.  Here he is laying hands on Patrick as Father John anoints him with oil.

He's holy and a full member of the Church!

Patrick and Penelope allowed her mom to take a picture which she sent to me.  We are so grateful for her friendship this past year.

St. Patrick's School Class of 2020! 

Finally, a smile from my boy.

Thank you to all the other families in the class of 2020.  These kids have mostly been together since preschool and I have always enjoyed their craziness and big personalities.  God bless us all while we deal with high school.

 

MO trip

With our trip to CO canceled,  we stayed closer to home to do some hiking and canoeing.  We first visited Elephant Rocks to have lunch.

About half way through our hike, we came upon a lake/pond with a significant drop off.  George won't get anywhere the edge but others got dorky.

This is as close as George would get.

After that brief hike, we headed to the Johnson Shut Ins.  It was pretty busy but fun was had none the less.

We camped at the Army Corp of Engineers campground right on the Black River, which was the clearest river I've ever seen.  My husband took this gorgeous picture of me.

The next morning, we got up, hauled our water crafts to the front of the park, and hit the river.

This perfectly captures how we all felt by the end of the day.

But dinner was still needed.  You can see how much sun Patrick (and I) got that day.

Despite the nap and the s'more, Mary was not happy to be going to bed.