Oh the Places They'll Go: Summertime is Fading Fast

Although the weather doesn't show it, fall is soon upon us and it's filling up fast! Almost every Saturday in September is already booked! And Emma has a jam packed school year lined up with 3 days of preschool, soccer and ballet. She's already talked about how she is doing basketball next. We've had a busy last few weeks and not sure if I can remember everything! At the beginning of August, Justin and crew came to stay for a few days and Emma was so excited to see Jansen again (poor Collins and Luke just get left out, but pretty soon they will be right there in the mix with them!)
Emma and Elle had their first little dance camp and Emma was beyond excited to go and had a BLAST! As soon as it was over, she started asking when she got to go back. We went to see Courtney at their new house one day and spent a few hours at the pool. We had a "peaceful" lunch and it ended with a nice sticky lemonade shower from Jansen's busted cup. Neither of us know how it happened, but all of a sudden Courtney and I felt a gush of liquid on our legs and had no idea where it was coming from. Finally, I realized Jansen had a huge hole in her cup and her lemonade was spewing everywhere! A poor, super preggo girl had to sop up all the mess and we bolted out of there!
The following week we were headed to meet at the mall for a little shopping and lunch. Unfortunately, other plans were to be had. As I was headed into the parking lot to meet Courtney, a woman side swiped us on the passenger side. Luckily, no one was hurt and the kids really didn't have an idea what happened. Although, Emma started saying she was scared after I told her the car had a boo-boo when she asked why we weren't moving. Aunt Courtney took Emma and her girls to do some shopping, while Luke and I stayed back with Matt to get everything sorted out. (I owe you one Court!) Two and a half hours later, we finally met them for lunch at Chipotle. I swear there should be cameras following Courtney and I around when we get together with the kids. We sat in a circular booth and the children turned into wild monkeys. They were sitting on the ledge of the booth, in and out of a high chair, two rounds of spilled chocolate milk, and of course rice ALL over the place! We were both more than exhausted when we left.
Emma had a soccer clinic at Wake last Friday and she was super pumped to go. I swear this child had never ran this much in her life. It was an hour and a half of non-stop moving and running. She came over a few times towards the end and said "I'm tiiired!!" "I just can't keep up!" and "I'M HUUUUUNGRY!!!!" She was worn out when it was over and scarfed her dinner down that night. Monday was her first team practice and it was a hot practice. Emma was losing steam at the end and did not want to finish, but she managed to stick around until the end and said she had fun.
Luke is thisclose to being a full time walker. He just moves SO fast on those little knees of his and he knows it. Why would you wobble walk when you could move 10x's as fast on your knees? But he takes 6-7 steps at a time. Today, for the first time, he was walking and fell and instead of just crawling he got back up twice and continued walking. He may not be walking fully, but he is a full on climber, that's for sure! He is also a jabbering fool and can say several words. He can say Mommy, Dada. Sissy, Emma, Bebba (Bella and he says it every time any dog barks), Uh-oh, bye-bye, and a few more I can't remember! He also loves giving hugs and hugs Emma all day long! They are getting better about "playing" together, although Luke seems to annoy her more often than not. But that's what little brothers are for, right?? Emma's personality is growing bigger than she is everyday. She's a smart little cookie and isn't afraid to say what's on her mind! Since Elle has started kindergarten, she has become fascinated by it and asks me almost every day what she has to count to before kindergarten. I told her 100 and she said "I can do that. 100 hundred! See!!" And then today she asked what she had to count back from and I told her she had to count from 100 backwards. She paused for a minute and then goes, "Watch this Momma" she then proceeds to turn around and says "100 hundred" She turns back around and said "I did it" Ohhh man, teenage years are going to be brutal!!