Where Did the Summer Go?

It's been a great summer in the marsh. We've been to the beach and the pool countless times, spent lots of quality time with family and friends, and have enjoyed having nothing to do on the weeknights except stay right at home.
Public school is back in session already, so activities are gearing up. Wednesday night supper at Church is back on.
Mary Grace started Ballet I and Cumberland Dance Conservatory last Monday. We are excited that she is in class with a couple of sweet girls who she already knows and are looking forward to a positive experience this year. She's in class with Kindergardeners but seems to be keeping up with them. She'll start soccer practice on this coming Tuesday. I guess I should say that we all will be starting soccer practice on Tuesday, since Stephen and I are coaching her team. Games start after Labor Day weekend and continue through mid-November. We are looking forward to a fun time with this team of 6 U-6 (under six years) players. One little girl, Jilli, is also in Mary Grace's class at Happy Apple.
Speaking of Happy Apple, we have orientation this Thursday and school starts for Mary Grace on Monday, the 24th. She'll be going 5 mornings per week from 9-noon. She is a green apple and her teacher is Mrs. Lentz, who we know from church. I think Mary Grace will do wonderfully in Mrs. Lentz's class!
Elsie starts at Happy Apple on Tuesday, the 25th. She'll go two days per week (Tuesdays and Thursdays) from 9 to noon. She is a yellow apple and will have two teachers, Mrs. Kolgaklis and Mrs. Galluccio, who was Mary Grace's teacher last year. Elsie already knows several of the kids in her class: Maddie, her BFF; Reece, our friends, the Bakers', son; and Anne and Matthew, who she knows from Ms. Julie's and church. It's a great group of kids!
Other big news on the Elsie front: We're close to declaring victory over diapers! Since Tuesday, she's only worn pullups for naps and overnight. She's pretty consistently going potty both at home and at Ms. Julie's. Yeah, Elsie!
Stephen has been very busy at work and took advantage of being at home by himself all last week while the girls and I were in Raleigh. I think he got caught up on a lot of stuff while we were gone.
I'm getting into the swing of things at the courthouse. I'm on the bench at least four times per week, either doing bond hearings or hearing civil cases. I'm going to start doing bad check bench trials in the Fall. It's turned out to be a great job. Low stress, easy hours for a full-time job, and great benefits. And the Saturday morning bondings don't bother me nearly as much as I thought they would. It's nice to have an afternoon off during the week on those weeks that I have to go in on Saturdays. I'll trade an early hour on a Saturday for 5 hours during the week almost anyday!
I'll be back later to post some pictures from our summer adventures.