First Day of Second Grade!

Despite the forced smile in the picture, Josh was very excited that school is starting today. Our school system added 45 minutes to the elementary school day this year, and we got our 45 minutes tacked onto the morning. That means the bus comes just after 7 a.m., and we have an early wake-up call here!

Second grade -- it's almost here!

Josh met his new teacher, Ms. Beale, at open house today, which means that the first day of school is only two days away! It was so fun to be back and school and see friends, and Josh's teacher has gotten rave reviews from other parents. It was a little intimidating to see the two textbooks on Josh's desk, but if any of the books cover facts on animals, measurements or transportation, Josh should be fine.

Josh's new classroom is in a trailer behind the school, as apparently a right of passage at Charlotte's overcrowded suburban schools is spending a year in a trailer cluster. It's certainly a change from the bright, open classrooms in the school building, but hopefully it will be a character building experience.

On the Job

Since school doesn't start until Thursday, I have to take my posse along when I work. Today we visited a plant nursery, where Josh and Molly enjoyed throwing rocks into the landscaping while I interviewed the owners and took pictures. One of us is very happy that school starts in two days!

The kids wanted to take pictures too, so the one above is by Molly and the one below is by Josh.

Florida Fun

We ended our crazy summer with a week in Florida at my parents' house, and on Thursday we took the kids to an arcade and water park in Jacksonville. I handily beat them at this trivia game, and then Josh proved why a driver's license is not even visible in his future by his performance in the motorcycle driving game. Strangly, the motorcycle game avatar he chose for was a woman wearing a black tube top.

Josh loved the big slides at the water park, and Molly was mad that she's not tall enough to go on them yet.

Since Chris wasn't there, I had the privilege of accompanying Josh on the water slides.

We also attended my cousin Doug's wedding near Orlando while in Florida. Staying in a hotel with little kids, I must say, is not the most fun thing in the world, although the kids thought it was great.

We were very thankful that Amy dressed Abbey and Elizabeth in monogrammed dresses -- it was much easier for us to identify who was who!

Vrignaults' summer visit

We're enjoying a few days with the Vrignaults, who are here on their summer visit from France. Emily came over for the morning, and we marveled at the number of kids we now have between the three of us!

Summer Road Trip

The kids and I hit the road earlier this month for our road trip to Iowa. After two days of driving, much of it through corn fields, we were very happy to arrive at Shelley's house! Josh and Molly had a great time hanging out with Maggie, Alex and Sara -- here they are playing on a queen-size air mattress in the camp pool. As you can imagine, Shelley and I had our hands full with five kids between us!

One morning we took a hike on the camp grounds to a swinging bridge and a cave.

The main event of our visit was a triathlon Shelley and I competed in on Sunday to celebrate 20 years of friendship. We met our freshman year of college! The triathlon, specifically riding a bike on the windy, hilly country roads of Iowa, nearly did me in, but I was glad to finally stagger across the finish line!

A big thanks to Shelley's husband Kevin, who brought the older kids to watch the race and took pictures.