And He's Off...

Yesterday was move-in day for Bradley.

I did pretty good, if I do say so myself.  I got a little teary a few times but overall, I was far more excited for him than I was sad that he was leaving.

Yesterday was also Freshman Orientation for Matthew.  Busy day.

The move went smoothly.  There was no room in the car for Caitlyn to come down with us and Bradley's girlfriend wanted to come with also so she drove her car down and took Caitlyn with her.  I think it made her senioritis much worse though, lol.

Waiting in line for the elevator.  Caitlyn is a goof!

Bradley met his roommate for the first time in person.  They had been facebooking back and forth so they knew a bit about each other.  In appearance, they couldn't be more opposite, but I think they will get along well. 

Bradley & his roommate

We were done pretty early with getting him mostly settled so we walked a few blocks away and took him to lunch at Portillos.  The dedication service that they invited parents to wasn't till 7pm and we were done at 3pm.  We could tell that Bradley was anxious to finish getting settled and start exploring, and we knew he didn't want us hanging around for the next 4 hours, so we did the hard thing and left.  The goodbye was quick and painless.  He is so close to home and it was so obvious that he is exactly where God wants him to be, how can I be too sad?  I will miss him, of course, but I am so excited for him.  The hardest part for me is going to be not talking to him and finding out how his day was or what is going on with him.  It's all a part of letting go, I guess.  I hope he doesn't completely forget about his mom.

Alyssa took this.  Bradley with Mr. Bear then & now.  They grow up so fast!

Downtown

Yesterday was the second to last Fun Summer Friday we have.  All 3 kids are headed back to school pretty quickly.  We move Bradley out this Wednesday.  Matthew has had percussion practice every week all through the summer and now band camp is in full swing.  Caitlyn is the only one who doesn't have stuff going on already.

I had hoped that all 3 kids would be available to go downtown Chicago yesterday but it wasn't meant to be.  Matthew's band camp schedule was inconvenient at best.  He went from 8am - noon and 4:30pm - 9pm.  What a way to kill the day.  Since Bradley was working at church, I bribed him in to picking Matthew up at noon and dropping him back off at 4:30 so I could take Caitlyn downtown.

After we dropped Matthew off at school, we headed a few blocks away to the train station.  We met Kelly, Sally, Sara & Ava there and we all took the train into the city together.  On the train ride in, we decided it would be fun to go up to the Skydeck at the Willis Tower (pronounced Sears Tower as my kids would say).  Poor Caitlyn was scared to death.  She is afraid of heights.  Always has been.  She cannot walk on a second floor and look over a railing without backing away.  I told her that she did not have to go up, that I would wait down on the ground with her if she wanted but she allowed peer pressure to win and she went with.

Turns out, she loved it!  In an "I'm terrified but this is cool sort of way".  She even went out on the plexiglass overhang thing!

Notice she is still hanging on the the wall though

Kelly, Sally & Ava were in the overhang next to us

 After we got our fill of looking around on the beautiful, clear day, we hopped on a water taxi and took it down the Chicago River to Navy Pier.

Sally, Kelly and I on the water taxi

Ava, Caitlyn & Sara

We had a quick lunch at Navy Pier and headed to the beach there to watch the Chicago Air Show practice.  It was a gorgeous day but I wasn't wowed by the air show this year.  Normally, The Blue Angels perform but since their performances have been suspended because of budget issues, there was a big lack of wow.

It didn't have much effect on our fun at the beach though.

Chicago is a beautiful city in the Summer!

Someone Slap Me...

For even entertaining the thought.  For entertaining it for even a second.  Just slap me.

I've been working on flights, hotels and a car for our trip to run Donna in February.  I started thinking about how much I enjoyed last year.  I was talking to Mark about it and was asking him if he plans to run the half or the full.  He said the full and for a split second, I considered it.

What is wrong with me?  I don't have the time to train for it.  I don't have the desire to train for it either.  Why then does it bug me so much to think of training for "only" the half.  Good grief.  Someone slap me.

Apparently, this year off of running distance is messing with my head.

Happy Birthday Matthew!!

My Matthew turned 15 today!  I just love that kid so much! 

 

 

Drivers Ed, here we come!!

The Red Run 5k

This morning, bright and early (think 4:30am), Caitlyn and I got up and headed almost an hour away to run a 5k.  The proceeds from the race were to benefit organizations fighting human trafficking domestically.

I wasn't so excited about traveling so far for a 5k but the cause alone made it worth it to me.  I ended up very pleasantly surprised with the race and I was extremely happy I went.  The race was smaller (under 400 finishers) but was well laid out and organized.  The course started and finished at a park but wound through beautiful neighborhoods in the middle.  It reminded me a bit of Donna in that respect.  People had set up chairs in their driveways and were cheering and thanking us for running for such a great cause.

Caitlyn has not run all summer so she struggled a bit but I was able to keep her motivated to keep up our 1:1 through the entire race.  She took off on me in the last 300 yards that little stinker.  They had 2 water stops which is more than I am used to for a 5k and the course was never crowded.  The finish area had simple post-race refreshments but plenty for everyone, even the walkers.  There were also several vendors there selling goods.  The proceeds from those also went to benefit local organizations fighting for the same cause.

Turns out we had a small contingent from church running and walking the race so we were able to snap a quick picture after the race.

This is certainly a race I would drive all the way up there to run again.  Mainly because of what it represented.

Countdown to College

It's coming so quickly!  2 weeks from today, we move Bradley into his dorm.  Today was the day one of his good friends left for the Navy.

He's growing up and looking forward to living his own life as an adult.  I'm feeling torn.  On the one hand, I am so excited for this new phase of life.  I pretty much always get excited when a new phase begins.  On the other hand, I am so sad to let my first-born baby go.

I know it's perfectly normal and it's a necessary part of life and today I'm more excited than sad.  Who knows what tomorrow will bring?

Yesterday?  I was sad.  Not because he was leaving but because I paid the bill for his first semester, lol!

It's not going to be the same around here with him gone.  Love you Bradley!!