Gone too soon

While we're very happy about school starting, the end of August also means the YMCA outdoor pools close until next summer. The kids love going to the pool, so we're sad to lose one of our favorite past times for nine months. The last day is tomorrow, and we'll probably be there until the doors close at 6 p.m.

The best thing about the pool is swimming really tires out the kids.

The Big K

We rolled into Charlotte about 10:30 last night, and Josh was a little unhappy about being drug out of bed at 7 a.m. to get ready for his first day of kindergarten. I was a little nervous at first--here's how he looked at the breakfast table:

Luckily he perked up before 8 a.m., and we drove through the remnants of tropical storm Fay and joined hundreds of minivans in the school drop-off line. He was happy to get out of the car with a new teacher, and he didn't even say good-bye to me! All I've been able to get out of him about his day was that he didn't go to time out, the playground was muddy and he went to the library. All in all, we'll call it a good start.

And in honor of our good friend Fay, which is now dumping rain on Charlotte, here are some pictures from one of the worst rains during our Florida trip.

Here's Molly watching the rain and lounging on a chair my mom had pulled under the shelter.

Our week with Fay

We arrived in Florida on Monday night looking forward to a week of swimming and enjoying the Florida weather. What we got was Tropical Storm Fay and five straight days of rain. It has wreaked havoc on our plans, including my flight to Charlotte this weekend to attend a baby shower, which was canceled because of weather.

The only real exciting development to report is that Molly now has enough hair for a bow!
The kids have been swimming twice: once on Tuesday morning, and this afternoon, when they went out despite the weather. Otherwise, we have done a lot of lounging, reading, eating and Olympics watching. Josh is going to be in shock when school starts.

Deja vu

We spent the weekend with Thao, Eric and kids in the mountains, and as we were driving up to the cabin late Friday night the long dirt road began to seem familiar. When we got to the cabin, which I had arranged the rental for, we realized we had rented this same cabin three years ago for a trip with the Murrays and the Humms. Clearly a sign of Mommy Brain. Luckily , we like this cabin!

The weather was wonderful, and the kids enjoyed the freedom to run around and playing in the cabin's sandbox. On Saturday afternoon, we took a short hike and stopped to enjoy a beautiful view.


Our Sound of Music moment:

Bobcat for a Day

Josh was beside himself today when a gigantic flatbed truck pulled into our cul-de-sac and dropped off this little Bobcat in our front yard. He was a little distressed when the contractors used it to tear down a trellis behind our house, but after he recovered he cheered the Bobcat on as it dug the footers for our addition.

The new school

At the advice of Josh's pre-K teacher, we took Josh over to his new school today to walk around and get acclimated before school starts in two weeks (and it can't get here fast enough!). Josh did well until we met the principal, when Josh said hello and then laid down on the couch in the office and pretended to snore. At least she knows what she's getting!

Josh and Molly had a good time walking around the school, which is beautiful and supposedly one of the best elementary schools here. Now we're just hoping that his new teacher will be as great as last year's.

Here's Molly when she saw the playground from inside. As soon as they got to a door, both kids sprinted for it.

What happened to our house

Josh went into quite a panic when we got home from camp today and saw that our deck had been demolished. He started screaming, "Mommy, what happened to our house!???" but soon recovered and was very happy to play with the extension cord the contractor left in the area that used to the be the deck.
What has happened to our house is the long-awaited addition has finally begun. We have the building permit, the contractor and the plans, and hopefully in about two months we'll have two new rooms and a deck across the back of the house. It should be interesting to live in a construction site this fall, but I'm sure the end result will be well worth it. I'll keep the blog updated with pictures of the construction.

Genetics, Where Art Thou?

Josh has recently become very interested in his hair. Last week he told me daily that his hair was too long and he needed it cut (those of you who have experienced Josh's earliest haircuts know how shocking this statement is). This week, he has taken to admiring Molly's hair, and now he tells me several times a day he wants his hair to be curly too.

Curly hair is not a stretch in our family. Chris sported quite a 'fro in his younger years, and I had no trouble achieving a full Farrah Fawcett feather (as many of you have recently seen on Facebook) back in the day. Josh, however, has not been graced with the curly gene, and his hair is a little puffy at best. I'm afraid that short of a perm, his longing for curls is going to be unrequited. But really, who wouldn't want hair that could do this?

Take Your Family to Work Day

I worked on a story today about the first restaurant in a town I cover that has gotten a license to serve beer and wine, so we all went to the restaurant for dinner. Molly approved of the new wine list, and everyone approved of the pizza and baked ziti. I think we'll eat here again when I'm off the clock!

It's Hot

So we're staying inside trying to entertain ourselves. Here are Josh and Molly lounging on the couch today for a showing of "The Cat in the Hat" and picking marshmallows out of bowls of Lucky Charms. It doesn't get much more exciting than this!