August, our last hurrah of summer started off with a cousin sleepover and Jefferson finally got to make a tie dye shirt- thanks to Dixie. We got up to a few daybreak concerts- including the Taylor Swift tribute concert, which was incredible. We hiked up to Gloria Falls- not nearly as full this time of year but still incredibly beautiful. The boys followed Brad's lead and found sticks hiking back and we learned that hiking sticks are meant for air guitars. Ryan played at open mike night in daybreak and Carter loved it so much he came home and said he needed to practice for Meckla. We asked him what Meckla was and he told us it's his and Jefferson's band. And then Jefferson showed us the CD cover and songs they have written. And then a concert ensued of course. Carter has declared that he is the mailman in our house and rain or shine he has to check the mail. We had another cousin sleepover and took everyone bowling, it was so fun to see Alec & Connor's first bowling experience, especially seeing Alec running from the drinking fountain to push the ball. We watched clips of the Opening Ceremonies (and like the rest of the world missed being in Paris) and watched the Olympics recap each night. Of course we had to have our own Dennis Family Olympics. This time Brad got gold, Carter silver, and Jefferson bronze. Carter passed up Jefferson all because of achieving his swimming goals and his flips in gymnastics. Bella even got into it. Bella got a summer hair cut and is loving her 10 months of life. She loves going for walks and saying hi to every dog she can. She has been Mary's farmer market companion and loves bike rides around the lake- though she had to be in front. Carter started kindergarten and Jefferson started 4th grade. When Carter walked in he didn't look back once- he was so excited. We are so grateful they both have great teachers and are excited to get up every day to go to school. We were finally able to check out the Dragon Boat festival- super fun (a blend of living traditions with a regatta). And we ended the month with a hike to Oktoberfest, we enjoyed the entertainment and dancing and rock n roll in the mountains. On our way out we found an amazing craft booth with Guatemalan crafts and Jefferson was thrilled to get a hackey sack with Guatemala written on it. So grateful he has such pride in Guatemala. And since starting school Carter is keeping us entertained with the play by play of the kindergarten day- who plays with who, who eats what for lunch, who gets mail or gets in trouble, and who gets to go to fun places afterschool. Our favorite was when he told us he sat by a boy named Thomas at lunch and he asked Thomas why he was named Thomas and Thomas said "I don't know they just started calling me that". LOL! So grateful he is making lots of friends.
