our transition to fall.

September is here and it is suddenly all about the fall season! First days of school, first soccer games, first smells of all things pumpkin and turkey and spices. While summer is always my favorite time of year there is something so refreshing about fall. It's a new season full of excitement and transition and change. So...here we go!

We ended the summer with one last trip up to the beach house. It was a beautiful weekend spent outside playing at the beach, long walks around the neighborhood and fresh crab for dinner. 

 The last day of summer I decided to just take it easy. We played outside, rode bikes, met up with friends at the school playground and chose our first day of school outfits. We had a ridiculously fun summer, it was hard to see it end!

 And then...first day of school! Seriously kids, stop growing.

 Drop off was quick and easy. Carter barely said goodbye to me as he ran off to find his friends by the basketball court and Lucy squealed with delight seeing her old kindergarten teacher and friends lined up by the classroom. Then it was Simon's turn for some one-on-one time! And of course, he chose baseball. I was smart enough to bring the bat and ball with me when we walked to school so we didn't have to play pretend baseball (another big favorite of his!).

 After taking turns playing pitcher, catcher, batter and umpire, running the bases, playing in the dirt and finally chasing a few crows we left the park after a few hours for a fun Target run. While he misses Carter and Lucy all day I think he'll be just fine if he gets to play baseball with me every day while they go to school.

 That night was another soccer practice for Lucy. So glad we still had a few days of sunshine before the rain began this week.

 And Matt clearly had a little shadow during practice. Simon did this all on his own...like father, like son!

 Later in the week after another soccer practice we celebrated with a team pizza party. I headed to Costco to get pizza for everyone and then we let the kids play and run around after practice. This is the 3rd year of these girls playing together (and actually 5th year for Lucy and 2 of her friends) so it's so fun to already know all the parents.

 Lucy had her first game of the season last weekend and did great!

 Big and little siblings played on empty fields making it even easier for me to watch the game. A big win for Team Reign!

 Matt and I were able to sneak away for the night too for an outdoor concert. Our schedule is getting busy with so many school and sports activities so it was the perfect opportunity for some alone time together, even for a few hours.

 And then Sunday began the official start of the NFL season. During the week we have a general rule of no TV time for the kids (and let's be honest...I'm so tired at the end of the day it's very rare for us to turn it on too!). But Sundays...it's all football, all day long. To celebrate we decided to cook up a huge 20 lb. turkey that's been sitting in our freezer for months. I randomly bought it one day during a good sale so we figured this was the perfect opportunity to have a mini thanksgiving dinner in September! And now...leftovers for days!!!

 This marks the first official full week of school so we are still finding our groove. But sports, puzzles, dress up, dance parties and reading are filling our days.

Happy Fall everyone!