This past week was Paige's first day of school for the 2026 school year. She drove herself in the white Model Y and parked in the church parking lot near the school. Her friend Abby won a really great parking spot in a raffle and she has been picking up the rest of the friends from the Davis lot in the mornings and then they all drive in together. Her days are fairly chill since she's doing dual enrollment classes and only has to be at school through 4th period.
Connor isn't starting school for another two weeks, but we took our traditional first day of school pic with the kids together and they're great about cooperating.
Paige's first day of school was good and when we ordered our Firehouse Sub sandwiches for lunch we got one for her too. While she ate her lunch she told us all about her first day.
Paige went out to Orange Park to shadow an anesthesiologist twice this past week. She had to get up early in the morning both days and Connor drove her to the hospital since it's quite a drive across town. The first day she got to see a transesophageal echocardiogram, open heart surgery, and even a C-Section. It was an amazing opportunity for her to see behind the scenes at the hospital and experience life as a doctor.
Everyone's been busy this summer, but this past week we had a day when both kids were around for lunch and we insisted that we all go somewhere together. We had a nice lunch at Barbara Jeans and it was such a treat to have both kids there chatting with us and laughing together.
Paige and Caleb were thinking it would be fun to go to Top Golf over the weekend and asked Andrea and me if we'd like to join them. Grandpa Rick and Grandma Alice invited us over for dinner and we told them about our plans and asked if they'd like to join us instead. We all met up, hit balls for a couple of hours, had some snacks, and played a few different games.
We had a mostly fun time paddleboarding in the intracoastal waterway last weekend. Emma came over and we drove out to our friend's dock and this time around we had two paddles so we could actually use two different boards effectively. Last time, with Caleb, we only had one paddle and it wasn't ideal.
I'd say it was actually a fairly ideal day for paddleboarding and would have been perfect except I may have broken a rib. Paige was horsing around trying to tip us in the water. I wasn't sure how deep it was, so once she tipped my board, I fell partway in the water and partway on the board so I wouldn't hurt my feet on whatever was lurking below. That turned out to be good for my feet and bad for my ribs.
Millie Mae came along as well and she's definitely getting more comfortable being on the boards and swimming in the water. She actually seemed to prefer just swimming and it was difficult sometimes to keep her from jumping off the boards.
Paige and Caleb went to see the new Spiderman movie and I went along too so I could drive Paige home afterwards. I didn't sit by them, but I met up with them afterwards and snapped a pic of them while we were walking through the parking lot.
We had an assortment of pics and videos lately and I decided to make a post about Millie Mae. She is five years old and will be six this December. Her personality cannot get much cuter, and she is such a sweet and smart dog. Lately she looks cute, even despite the fact that I took responsibility for cutting her hair. I got a vacuum clipper system and used it on her a few weeks ago. It was certainly not her cutest look, and her eyebrows have been hanging over her eyes lately, but it is looking a bit better as it grows out.
In our rental house, Millie Mae likes to lay on the bed in the from bedroom and look out the front windows to keep an eye on the cul-de-sac. When I'm working, she'll be perched on a chair at the window of the office that also gives her a commanding view.
Millie Mae also likes to go and do anything and everything. If the door is open in the car, she'll jump in eagerly, hoping to go with us. Connor has been cute this summer about taking her with him when he goes to Starbucks, or to run errands in general.
Millie is not the most cuddly dog in the world, but if she's in the right mood for it, she will at times. She's sweet about putting her paw on your cheek when you lay together and she likes kisses on her cheek or even her nose.
Millie has lots of stuffed animals, rubber bones and balls, and "poofs" which are little round fabric balls that she tears off of one of Paige's blankets. She likes if you throw her things so she can chase them, but she is awful at bringing it back.
Millie has such a different relationship with everyone. She is calm and cuddly with Paige. Paige can pick her up and hold her in any position and give her rubs and brushes and Millie will be so calm. With Connor, she's a bit of a wild animal. She loves to chase him or be chased by him, and she is like a snarling gremlin when they play. She loves Andrea's special "Sweet Tater Treat" dog treats that she gets in the morning and will wait patiently for Andrea every morning. She also likes to boss Andrea around with her toys, which are in a basket next to Andrea's chair. She'll "sit pretty" and moan and whine at Andrea to get her attention and then will insist that Andrea throws her things for her.
