Claire's First Day of Kindergarten

Claire is now a schoolgirl!! She was so excited about starting Kindergarten and could not wait to get to school. She loves her teacher and had a great day and mommy only got a little choked up once! We had a "First Day of School" celebration after dinner tonight and surprised Claire. Unfortunately, school has been cancelled tomorrow because of Tropical Storm, "Fay", so it's back to staying home tomorrow. Hopefully, Wednesday we will be back to our new routine.

Our "First Day of School" cake from SuperWalMart...
Ella reaping the benefits of her sister's hard work...

Family Vacation - Oxymoron?

So, Ed says that the term Family vacation is actually an oxymoron. A vacation is when you go away somewhere and rest while being waited on hand and foot. You then, return home relaxed and fully rejuvenated, ready to take on reality. You put the word family in front of it, however, and it suddenly becomes a time when you pack up most of your house and jam it, and your family, into the car to head somewhere that is much farther away than it seemed. Once there, you work yourself silly trying to keep your little ones entertained and happy while they wander around napless and hyped up on sugary snacks you use to pacify them while getting from one place to another. Somewhere in there are moments when you realize your having fun and your kids are having fun at the same time and you take pictures of those moments and suddenly it all becomes worth it. Here are some pictures of our "moments"

Breakfast in bed at the hotel

Dollywood

Somewhere in the Smokies...Mining for jewels was a favorite for Claire and Nana....
Picking blackberries with Bapa.....





Sliding Rock.....




Goofing off!! Cherokee.....

Black Light Putt -Putt

Happy 4th!!

This year we decided to load the girls up in the wagon and take them to the Lutz July 4th parade. It was very hot, but it was fun and afterwards we went to a friend house for a picnic. The girls were pretty worn out after that, so we decided to stay home and watch the fireworks from home. We live near a lake and the neighborhood put on a pretty impressive show.