as summer ends...

Well, summer's over.  It flew by in a flash, even though some days felt like they couldn't end quick enough.

I have awesome kids!  Both grew so much this summer: physically (as Justin grew taller than me!), emotionally and spiritually...as both kids matured and sought out closer relationships with Jesus.

After quite a whirlwind weekend in Asheville, where Kendall's team participated in the Riverside Summer Shootout tournament, I put the kids on the bus this morning heading to 7th and 8th grades!
I hope I put them on the right bus going to the right school :)  Two buses stopped on the corner this morning...15 minutes apart from each other.  With the school system here in Wake County, we have several buses going to many different schools.  With that said, I hope they ended up at Mills Park and not across town.

I'd like to say a little bit about Asheville.  Wow!  What a town.  I have never seen such a vibrant, busy downtown (aside from major cities such as recently visited NYC).  We went to dinner both Friday and Saturday nights and there were thousands upon thousands of people out and about.  There were restaurants galore.  All of them unique and appealing.  We took coach Linwood with us on Friday to a spanish tapas place called Zambras.  We sampled at least half the menu.  The chickpeas and eggplant were my two favorite dishes. Everything was made in house and so delicious.  Linwood was amazed that the kids sampled everything put on the table.  Gorgeous food!  On Saturday evening, the entire team dined at an italian place- all 47 of us!  We ate at Strada and they had a private room upstairs that was perfect for us. I had been nauseated all day, so didn't eat more than a half piece of toast and some coffee at breakfast.  By dinner, the nausea waned and I was starved.  I ordered a salad and a simple small pasta dish with a light tomato cream sauce and spinach.  I started to get queasy at the end of dinner so I went to bed after we got back to the hotel.  I fell asleep immediately and slept well until 5am when I woke up very nauseas.  I dashed to the bathroom and got very sick :(  I went back to bed and then when we were all up a few hours later, we decided it would be best for Justin and I to head home and Keith and Kendall would stay for her 12:30 game.  I felt reasonably well as I drove and didn't feel in danger of throwing up again.  I ate a banana and a plain dry bagel over the four hour drive.  I have continued to feel better since.

Kendall's team has seven of the sixteen on the roster new to the team.  This was the first time they all played together.  None of us were sure how it would go since the girls don't even know each other that well.  It was a learning curve for sure, but they played well.  They won 2 out of 3 games, but more importantly, they started coming together as a team.  It was also fun getting to know the new families.  I just wish I had felt more myself,  but there is time for that.  We have the whole season to go yet.

So, all said, a wonderful summer is now behind us.  It's time to kick it into school mode.  I am praying  (and invite you to join me!) for my kids to have a wonderful start to the school year.  I pray that they enter that building with confidence, make new friends, be a good friend, work hard and remember that God is in control!