The group had picked to return to Sunset Beach for our trip this year and we had planned to go for 2 nights again.  Before the camping weekend, we had put Buddy in the boarding place for another full day on Tuesday to get him more adapted to being there.  During that day, Buddy seemed to be a bit less nervous as we could tell over the cam.  But unfortunately he developed some stomach issue the next day.  After some contemplation and checking with our friends, we decided to bring Buddy along with us to camping instead of boarding him.

    So on Friday, we had to drive 2 cars due to the additional passenger.  We packed up the cars and we were arrived at the site after 5pm.  Buddy was very excited and quite hyper the first couple hours there.  After Stuart pitched the tent, the rest of us could relax and hang out.  I taught the boys to play some card games, like Black Jack and a simple version of War that Logan taught us how to play.  Later when we found out that Martin and Theresa were supposed to arrive late that night, we decided to start cooking the short rib dinner we prepared.  We were all hungry and enjoyed eating very much, and Buddy had his dinner as well.  When Theresa and Martin arrived, we cooked up the remaining dinner; we had second round and topped off with smore afterward.  By the evening Buddy was calmer and just hung out with us talking around the campfire.  Logan was tired first and the boys turned in for the night.  When it was finally time, Buddy came inside to the tent with us and stayed on Stuart’s side for the night.  Buddy did well not barking at night but did growl whenever he heard people walked by our tent, thus Stuart did not sleep too well trying to keep Buddy in place. 

    The next morning I had to get up early since Buddy was done sleeping.  He and I took a walk around the camping site until the rest of us were up and we had breakfast.  The four of us and Theresa and Martin had several cornhole tournaments; Connor was happy to have a few winning rounds.  Afterward, the boys and I along with Theresa and Martin took a stroll to the beach.  The water was chilly but the boys did not mind at all and had fun playing by the water until they got quite wet; then we headed back to shower and clean up.  By then Robyn and Peyton had arrived; Peyton was happy to meet Buddy.  Right when we prepared lunch, the Kao’s arrived to the camping site as well.  Mckayla and Marcus were surprised and seemed to be thrilled to see Buddy; they came say hi to him before they said hi to everyone else.  The rest of the day, the kids ran around the campsite, played Bocce ball, cornhole, and gathered around to play with Buddy.  Buddy had gotten over the initial overexcitement with the first day; since then, he was quite calm with the kids and dealt with all the patting hands well.  Mckayla and Peyton also enjoyed walking Buddy with me, so the four of us had taken some walks together throughout the day.  The adults continued to do what we loved, just hung out to chat, eat and drink.  Stuart and I usually took turns being in charge of Buddy, so the other could relax.  Some of the time Buddy also just chilled on his cot and he did not require any attention.  The kids had the smore again.  Kids are all older now and able to grill their own marshmallow. After lots of practice over the weekend, Connor finally could grill some perfectly toasted marshmallow. 

    Buddy slept longer stretches the second night, meaning Stuart slept better too.  We continued the same on Sunday morning; the kids gathered around Buddy at times or played around at the campsite.  Everyone slowly packed up and took turns leaving to head home.  The rest of us left at 11am to drive home.  This year we had a smaller group as Kathy/family and Dave/Brandon were not able to come due to sport commitment.  Nonetheless, this was another great trip and we were happy to know that Buddy did very well too.

    As soon as we came home, the boys went to shower, and Stuart gave Buddy a bath.  I quickly emptied and cleaned some of our belongings; afterward we showered as well.  After that, Stuart and I realized how tired we were.  He and I along with Buddy all fell asleep in the living room while the boys played video games upstairs.  Buddy was probably the one who took the longest nap time. I think it must been exhausting for him as well being outdoor for two full days.

     One of the sport teams we signed Logan up is Cross Country as Logan told us that he likes running.  This sport actually started as soon as the school year began.  The first Monday during this school year, there was a parent/student meeting with the coach to learn about this sport.  Logan and I learned about the kids would be practicing running and aiming toward a 2.2 miles hill run during the meets. The team has planned to have up to 80 students this year and it turned out that Maxim had signed up as well.  We do not know the official roster yet, thus we still need to find out if Logan will stay in the team, but the practices had started.  Logan had one practice right after school last Monday in the 90 degree heat and another one on Friday at 6pm.  Both practices the kids did a run around school and some conditioning exercises afterward.  Logan was happy with his time on the Friday’s run when I picked him up.

    Logan has been given a “job” since school start which is to take care of Buddy when he comes home.  This frees me up from the need to come home during lunchtime.  Everyday after Logan walks home from school, he texts me to let us know that he is home.  Then he let Buddy out from the crate; he let him outside to do his business, gives him water and a biscuit afterward.  After a brief stretch, Logan usually puts Buddy back in the crate and goes upstairs to do his homework.  Most of the time Logan would update me with texts too.  Logan is quite responsible and caring to Buddy.

    I took Connor to watch the musical Wicked on 8/18 after buying the tickets off from Robyn.  Stuart and Logan were nice to drop us off at the theater and we waited for Michelle and Mckayla to arrive before we all entered the theater.  Connor had no idea what the musical was about, so I briefly told him the gist.  He was engaged with the show.  During the intermission, we all went out to the courtyard for a stretch.  Connor said he liked it so far, but thought it was a bit too much singing .  Connor seemed even more into the story the 2nd half.  When the show was over, all four of us enjoyed it very much.  We had to quickly said goodbye to Michelle and Mckayla as Stuart and Logan had just arrived to pick us up.  Connor also tried to tell Stuart about what he watched while we drove home.

   Last night as promised, we watched Wizard of Oz so Connor could continue on with the storyline.  I actually had never watched the movie.  Logan was not excited to watch it initially as he had seen it, but enjoyed it as much as the rest of us had at the end.  We were just surprised what a nice production this was when it was made in 1939.

    August 14, 2019 marked the first day of Middle School for Logan.  He actually shared with us the day before that he was nervous; he was worried about changing into PE outfit and how to deal with the locker.  On the other hand, he did not seem to be concerned about having 6 classes or walking to each classroom which was what I was thinking about.  On this first day, I accompanied Logan and walked together to school; we walked past all of his classrooms and finally ended in front of the gym for his first period, PE.  I then said goodbye to Logan and he started his new school year.  Since then, Cole has been coming to our house every morning to walk with Logan.  Logan would either walk home on his own or with Cole.  Logan seems to adapt quite well to this new middle school life.  He has not had any negative things to share and never really complained about anything.  He does enjoy hanging out of his group of friends during lunchbreak.

   Connor’s first day as a 4th Grader went well also.  He was very excited for this day to come as he kept saying he missed his friends.  This year the school supplies were being funded by the state, thus we did not have to haul the big bag of supplies like we had every year.  As soon as we walked to school, Connor went in line and talked with his friends, then he was off to his classroom.  After school, Connor goes to Math Enrichment for the afternoon; he is comfortable there as well.  Connor told us that his new teacher is very nice, and he seems to be happy back to school.

    Tuesday night before school start, Connor was excited to go find out his class assignment.  When we arrived at school, Connor was thrilled to learn who his new teacher would be and was happy to know that he also has a few of buddies in his class.  This will definitely be a better school year for him.

     I also went to Logan’s new middle school in the evening for a meeting to learn about joining sport teams.  We will have Logan join and try out for a few sport this year.  Hope it would be an interesting fulfilling first year of middle school for Logan.