Joanna Gaines is just like Us moms who are sending their kids off to college.
The Magnolia Network star and cofounder posted a sentimental video via Instagram on Saturday, August 9, as her family enjoyed their “last dinner” before her son Drake, 20, goes back to school and her daughter Ella, 18, heads out for her freshman year.
Joanna, 47, shares five children with husband Chip Gaines, including sons Duke, 17, and Crew, 7, and daughter Emmie, 15.
“Gulp,” Joanna wrote alongside the reel. “Last dinner together before our oldest heads back to college and our second is about to leave home for her freshman year. Thankful for the group hug and all the puppies to help me work through my wide range of emotions.”
She added, “And also Crew’s motor bike, it made me feel like a kid again ☺️ I love you kids so much.”
In the video, set to the touching lyrics of Fleetwood Mac’s “Landslide,” the Gaineses enjoyed each other’s company at their farm. Joanna and Chip, 50, could be seen making homemade pizzas in a brick oven before the family sat down at the dinner table.
They then shared a group hug with their mom outside in the yard, dogs included, before Joanna hopped on a kids’ motor bike for a joy ride.
In November 2023, Joanna and Chip opened up about what it was like to send their firstborn child off to school when they still had a preschooler at home.
“I think the greatest gift of having a kid go off to college and having a 5-year-old toddler, is kind of that perspective of it’s not here forever. Don’t take it for granted, and cherish these moments,” Joanna told People at the time.
Chip added, “Something about Drakey going off to college really does make you shift your attention to Crew who’s on the tail end of all this. And you’re kind of living very intentionally because you know that — which is so hard to believe when you’re holding a 1-year-old — ‘Oh, this time’s going to go by quickly.’”
Joanna and Chip recently enjoyed a vacation to Mexico with all of their kids to bond and connect as a family.
“Truth is, we’re all homebodies,” Joanna told People last month. “But as our kids get older, I’ve learned what a gift it is to get away and have that intentional time as a family. Being present is what we’re after — so we limit phones, pick a few games or hikes that everyone is excited about, eat together for every meal and toss the schedule out the window.”
Joanna and Chip hosted HGTV’s Fixer Upper from 2013 to 2018 before fully embracing their own brand, Magnolia. The couple has since launched a lifestyle magazine, Magnolia Journal, a collection of home decor items sold at Target, Hearth & Hand and the Magnolia Network.
Fixer Upper spinoffs have popped up on the network, as well as Joanna’s cooking show Magnolia Table and one-room renovation series Mini Reni.
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