Zooooom... school starts = summer's flown by (almost)!

"Zooooom!" go Jon and Ben and the other children in the neighbourhood, as they fly down the steep slope at the end of the street on their bikes and skate scooters!

No matter how many times they've done that, and Ben had flipped in the air when his bike tipped over, I still hold my breath and pray everyone's being careful as they ride!

I get that these are fun things they can't do on grass in the backyard, and that bumps and bruises (we're not spared, and Jon was also stung by a bee) make us tougher. But am I the only parent not completely comfortable with them playing in the street, let alone play there unsupervised? I've compromised, though not without setting reasonable limits for their safety. There are other considerations, like each other to think about, and each one's needs can be very different. And incidents before and after our move have seen the boys in sticky situations with older children.

Big picture: What's really nice, being new kids on the block, is having other children in the neighbourhood to play with. That helps Jon and Ben settle in after our move here, and it helps them, too, to already know some faces when school started a week ago now.

Meanwhile, before more homework will eat into at least one child's playtime, you bet they are asking to ride their bikes a lot still. Ben, on a two-wheeler sans training wheels (being able to balance on the skate scooter eventually did the trick for him), and Jon, who happily graduated to a mountain bike. This mom's not quite as thrilled as them though, over those stunts -- the "popper wheelies" and "bunny hops", and more -- that have my heart skip a beat, no, make that many a beat!

What's good for me: Going after them whilst pushing Kait in the umbrella stroller (if she'll sit in it), means I get a bit of exercise in the form of a power walk. And if we make it to the nearest playground, she'll also get to run around some!

And "Zooooom!", down the slide goes Kait with some help from the brothers!



Now what's always hard is getting them to call it a day. But yes, seize the day and seize the warm sunshine before the season will really be over soon!

A quick update and thank you for your support...
Vern's defence went well, and he's zooming in on the revisions so he can be all done. And before work will whisk him off again -- he'll be out of town next week for a couple of days, it's really great to have his help with the children, and the boys simply love it when he can go cycling with them! My week alone with the three kids weren't without our usual challenges, and more, when I sprained/pulled something (?) in my left hip after the first few days. Good thing I wasn't immobile and could still function, though the pain was bad for two days and two nights. Very grateful for God's grace and the bonus strength that saw us through it all!

Last week when I took the children for Ben's kindergarten open house, and it's back to half-day school for him...

Jon also got a sneak peek at the 4th grade classrooms. And see Kait? She was busy helping them check out the place, too.

(The outdoor pictures are from early August just before Kait turned 1; the weather did warm up again after some cooler days. More pictures when I can get round to them... the fun "splashing around" ones deserve a post of their own. More house stuff to try and get organized, and already inundated with the usual school stuff... that's just life, busy!).