~ Masons ~

This post should be entitled "All About August... with some July pics, too!" as we had some fun times toward the end of that month that I somehow missed in the July post! So bear with me as I continue this game of photo catch up! The end of our summer had highs and lows, fun excursions out and boring days in, joy and sadness... So hopefully this post will capture at least some of that!

The last weekend of July included an afternoon at the National Harbor with lots and lots and lots and lots of carousel rides, followed by a sweet dinner that night with some of our faves, Mandy & Holland. Two ice cream treats in one day! Win!!!

Another big moment from the weekend- Ollie's first lost tooth!!! He showed us how loose it was during our dinner with Mandy and Holland and that very night he quietly came into our room with his tooth in his hand! Exciting first for our boy! And the tooth right next to it came out less than a week later!

Celebrating the lost tooth over donuts!

Getting ready for the tooth fairy!

We were able to have a quick dinner with Mee-Maw & Grandpa at the end of July, too, in between their cruise and trip home. It was great to see them, even if just for a moment. The girls were tickled with more handmade doll clothes from Mee-Maw, and Ollie was thrilled with the beautiful wood truck Grandpa made him!

Onto August! We always enjoy being able to start the month by celebrating my mom's birthday. The kids loved decorating her cake and I was even able to have a birthday breakfast date with her!

The first week of August was also big for the kiddos with their three different camps! Maelee was disappointed to have the initially-planned theater camp canceled, but was so excited that a good pal was also doing the day camp we found as a replacement! Ollie did great at his soccer camp and Lilee loved her art camp! And I was over the moon at our little mommy/daughter date after Lilee's final class "art show." We went out for lunch afterwards while Maelee was still at her camp and Ollie went to Nana & Pop-Pop's. We had a blast!

My adorable little artist.

The first week of August ended with another sweet Metheny family reunion at my parent's church in Alexandria, with family traveling from various parts of VA, DE, and even PA. It was great to be able to introduce Ollie to so many of them and we all enjoyed seeing everyone.

Another week of camps for the kids (a preschool play-based camp for Lilee, writing camp for Maelee, and Kindergarten-prep week for Ollie at his new school!), random events with friends old and new, an unexpected loss, and a delightful weekend away all provided big moments during the rest of the month.

Pool party with Maelee's new Girl Scouts troop!

The school change (due to the redistricting we were affected by) meant that it made sense to switch to a troop with girls from the new school. And we're pretty confident it was the right choice!

Sweet visit from Auntie Coop!

SO excited to see my dear friend, Cindy!!!

We've tried to meet up a few times a year with the kiddos at a Chick-Fil-A midway between us and we can't wait for our upcoming double date sans kiddos!

Parker.

In many ways, we (largely begrudgingly) believed that our (sometimes) beloved cat still had many more years ahead of him. Admittedly, we were not exactly thrilled with that idea given how difficult he had become- constantly stealing food, then nasty messes afterward... the crazy loud meows that woke us up in the mornings well before we were ready... and just generally adding to the stress of our day to day in a very significant way... So when he seemed to get particularly bold in stealing our food, yet seemed to be shrinking by the day, we decided we needed to have him checked out. Tests were run and results were inconclusive, and then in a matter of days, his steady decline began. It was incredibly difficult to watch, and when he got to the point where we knew we had to end his suffering for him, we were so much more sad than we expected we'd be. We knew our lives were about to get so much easier and so much less frustrating, but it was awful to see him fade away before our eyes. It's still hard to believe we no longer have our kitty with us, but he sure did leave us with a lot of memories.

Maelee's annual summer movie night!

Wish some old and new friends.

Just after Maelee's reading at her writing camp!

Making some new friends after Kindergarten-prep week!

We are so grateful for this program!

Enjoying a morning movie with our neighbors.
Ollie's first time in a movie theater- he did GREAT!

Despite lots of great times in August, losing Parker plus having a number of tough days of sibling quarrels after sibling quarrels, with an intense and demanding work schedule for Steve to top it off, we were so ready for a quick weekend away out on Gwynn Island. Situated between Hill's Bay and the Chesapeake, my mom's cousin, Steve, and his family own a beautiful home that they have graciously welcomed our family into. The kids LOVED the pool and the sweet hospitality of Steve & Mava (and patience and tolerance from their daughter, Madie!). We spent one day in Busch Gardens (pics of that to follow!) and had a wonderful and refreshing weekend away.