August

 

Above is the first day of school pictures for the kids. Jacob as a sophomore, Amelia as a 6th grader, and Jack as a freshman. 

In August I believe the kids' favorite time of the month is when I am gone working in my classroom or at the school because that means ALL day long, they play screens. They can be total screen zombies without any interruptions. That is the last two and half weeks of the month.

In the beginning of the month Burton came over for a week. We always love Burton coming over. We all went bowling one day, to the trampoline park, swimming and general hangout time at the house. On a Saturday we drove out to Dayton to watch a meteor shower. Jack had the idea of calling his hunting buddy, Kelly, to ask if we could park on his property to watch it. It was an excellent idea because it was so dark. As soon as we turned the car light's off the Milky Way just came popping out of the sky with such brilliance. The meteor shower was pretty consistent until about 2:00 am so it was about that time we packed up to go home. 

One thing the kids did in August was be a part of the Richland Police Department's active shooter training. They went to our church to run through two different scenarios as bystanders. Our friend is a Lieutenant Detective for the RPD, he said the training was successful and important to the department. He also said it if very helpful to have bystanders as a part of the training. Jacob, Jack and Amelia said they would do it again. They got a breakfast burrito and doughnut as a thank you for helping. The kids also said they liked hearing how officers planned to stop an active shooter and the debrief that happened after each scenario. 

Jacob was slotted to participate in the Order of the Arrow weekend in Scouts in August. Order of the Arrow is a fraternity within Boy Scouts. The weekend includes service projects, a vow of silence for 24 hours, a night alone in the woods and a ceremony of inductions. Jacob made it through the night alone but that was it. He became very nausea and dizzy sometime in the early morning. I was called the next morning to come get him. Now, if you back up three days, on Wednesday, Jacob went swimming with his friend. During that time, he had dove in the water too deep and fast and ruptured his right ear drum. On Saturday it was becoming infected. By the time we got home he was starting to have a mild fever. I immediately took him to Urgent Care for ear drops. Jacob was in bed from Saturday to Wednesday with vertigo. He is feeling better now but still needs to keep his ear dry and no air Pod in his ear for a while.  Jacob will have to redo the Order of the Arrow weekend in the future. Jack has let him know he could go with him. ;)