Summer Time Fun!

It's hard to believe that summer time is over, and the fall season is begining. We're so ready for football, pumpkins, candy, and the holiday season that is quickly approaching. It was a super fun summer filled with lots of great memories; my only complaint is it went by wayyyyyyyy too fast. We did lots of swimming, playing outside, waterpark fun, riding the four wheeler, and visiting family. Cole had his 7th birthday this year and it was a blast, we had a blow up slip and slide and lots of swimming for all the kids to enjoy

and even the big kids too. :)  He started 1st grade this year and so far he is enjoying it. They really kicked it up a notch with the work load and classroom assignments which I think is great for him. He seems to be up for the challenge and is working hard. Reading is still his strong point and enjoys doing that everyday. He now has weekly test over his reading books as well as spelling test. And he did his first project this weekend, which I may have enjoyed more than him. This is a fun age where the work can still be fun to do and getting creative with my boy is always a treat. He had his yearly vision appt this month with the Retina Specialist and it went well. Cole was pumped and said he wasn't going to cry and was ready for those nasty drops. And then as soon as they walked in the room and he saw the bottles all of that went out the window. Once he got past the drops he did great on all the evaluations. They did adjust his prescription just a bit so they aren't as strong, he said the stigmatism was much better and he didn't see any additional spots around his retina so that was nice to hear. He also got some new and snazzy hearing aids, he's had his old ones for over 5 years which is a long time for a kid. These are made by Oticon and they are designed more for kids, this particular model was just released at the end of September so it's cool to know he is getting the latest and greatest since technology is constantly improving. So far he is really enjoying them, i'm not sure if it's because they sound better or the soccer balls on them... Hopefully both. :) He did have a new hearing evaluation to make sure they set his new devices accurately and his hearing has remained the same. One of his ears actually tested a little better compared to his last test 9 months ago so that was cool. I'm so proud of this little dude, he continues to amaze me each and every day.  Here are just a few pictures from the past couple of months. :)