Our Last Hurrah(s)!

Douglas always makes fun of me, but I love to over celebrate the little things. I love any excuse for extra treats, extra fun. Our very last week of summer of course needed a little extra. 

So here it is. A recap of our last week of Summer 2017. A summer I hope to never forget.

I got to see all of these cuties back on Tuesday. Two of my best girl-friends live closeish now (come on down, Kaci!) and the kids and I remembered that we had not made it to visit Kendra and Desmond this summer. Shar and Kaci were free too so it was our last girl day before works starts back up.  A constant prayer of mine is for their health and happiness and I know I receive the same prayer from them. Yay friends!

Aug snoozed on the way home and was ready to go-go-go when he got home. These two have turned into the best of friends this summer. On the list of "What am I going to miss most", hearing/peeking in on them playing together ranks right up there. Some days they were doctors with Auggie very seriously asking me "What happened...", some days they were Spider Girl and Spider Boy running around the house yelling "NO, Bad Guys!", some days they were Mommys with very needy babies (and I was the grandma) and some days they were just mine and we would cuddle or read books and stay in our jammies all day (and get out every toy we own.)

Wednesday I had a few school obligations so the kids went out to Grandpa and Grandma's one more time. Aunt Kathy got to spend some extra time with them too. Grandpa and Grandma's has grown to be one of their favorite places this summer. Now if we see any corn they both think we are there! I wonder how many golf cart rides they took this summer.....I guess cows, goats and puppies never get old. I am so very thankful for the memories they have made there and for the always open arms of their grandparents. 

I think they are getting too big. Do you agree??

All summer we knew we were going to Sullivan with Nana to see Curious George--what we thought would be our official last hurrah was on Thursday.

I can't believe we had never been there before this. It was SO cute. Em loved it (the girl loves a musical) and Auggie really liked it too and sat still like the big boy he is.

Aug got their autographs after the show. Em decided she wanted no part in that even after I explained that the man dressed was George was not a real monkey. After that we ate lunch at Cracker Barrel and did a little shopping. Just a fun little day.

I love all of the fun little days we had.

Had to throw this one on. Major embarrassment pic for the future! Doug and I signed Emery up for 4 year old pre-school this week. As a 4 year old Mom, I am not nervous at all. I know she will love it. All I could think about this meeting was sending off my boy next year. What will he think about school??? Doug and I also realized we have about a year before he has to be potty trained.....guess I better get started now (hence the cute little underwear.) Actually he just likes to wear them for a little bit and I can't resist because he looks too cute. First step in potty training my boy: stop calling them panties haha. Doug and Auggie say boys wear undies!

I knew Friday morning was our last morning of no plans. So we cuddled and watched a movie and held hands. Well Auggie held my hand. He always does and I hope he always will. Out of all the fun we had I might have enjoyed these little quiet moments the most this summer.

We also played all day. These two with their imaginations again....on Friday they were mechanics and fixed my car aka recliner. Those stethoscopes were their walkie-talkie-tool-belts. And for some strange reason I let them play with the tape. Allllll the tape. 

By the end of the summer, some Mom-sense goes out the window.

Friday night it was back to Grove for one more Jansen fling. Imagine that...they are on the golf cart......

And that boy in the middle can sweet talk anybody into taking him for a ride.

I barely saw either of my kids. Em ran around barefoot all night with the girls and Auggie hitched a ride whenever he could. Two of their favorite things.

This is my only picture from Saturday but we didn't just stay in our pjs and "fix cars." Douglas did boy stuff with friends all day but picked me up for a date night to the St. A picnic that evening. Nana entertained kiddos.

Sunday morning we woke up early and headed for St. Louis. A friend at Doug's work offered us four tickets to the Cardinals game and we couldn't resist. We had the best day and it was sooo nice of his co-worker to think of us. 

Can you tell by this picture that Auggie Boy was just a little bit excited.....

And the day was not just a regular day at the ball park. We got to go early and do all kinds of stuff. First up was a dug-out tour. Again, Auggie's face says it all. 

We took Nana with us. An extra set of hands is always needed plus she has treated us so much this summer that we thought it would be nice to treat her too.

Oh my boys. Douglas might not have noticed but some of my favorite moments from the day were just watching he and Auggie take in the day together. I foresee lots of years of this right here in our future. But with another little boys hand in his other hand.

Aug is ball crazy. Most of the time at our house he is pretending to hit the ball "BOOM" and then running around the house yelling "HOMERUN AUGGIE!!!" He is a boy that doesn't sit still yet he just quietly watched the pitchers warm up and waved to every player he saw. A boy and his ball field.

My girl is an old pro at coming to Cardinal's games by now. The one thing she really wanted to do was see Fredbird and the one thing we didn't do was see Fredbird. I promised we would be back.

The game was kind of a boring one until the last few innings. We started to come back (Rally Hat time!), we saw two home runs and we finally got to see Yadi! We ended up losing but I really don't think the kids cared.

After the game the kids got to run the bases. I am not sure who liked it the most....them or their Father ha! Em was fast but had no idea where she was going and Aug was slow but loved every minute of it. It was the best day and the perfect last hurrah. (Now Doug says everything we do will be the "last hurrah" before Baby Boy comes and he is right!)

Today it was back to Miss Sharon's. The kids hopped out of bed and could not have been more excited to see their buddies. I on the other hand cried before we even had shoes on, made them kiss me good bye four times before we walked out the door and then again at Sharon's. This is my 5th year dropping kiddos off at a babysitters and I have cried every time but for some reason this year feels like the hardest (well besides that very first year with Em.) I can probably blame a little bit of it on pregnancy hormones but I think most it has to do with how much I enjoyed my summer with them and thinking about the change that is coming to our family in about 10 weeks. I am SO excited for it all. New job, new baby, new routine, new chapter....but man does life feel like it is going fast. We are so incredibly blessed to be living this life together so if you see me today and I look like I have been crying its not because I am just sad. I am sad to see the summer go but happy to see what God has in store!

Happy Monday and I hope everyone enjoyed all the hurrahs this summer!