A New Era

Well, the first day of school came and went. The girls were excited. They were totally ready to go. And I was equal parts happy for them and sad. It was really the end of a major chapter in my life. I'm a stay at home mom with no kids to stay home with...after 9 years I'm closing the book. Okay, that may be a bit dramatic. But like I said, it was at least the end of a chapter. But onward and upwards to the next one.

Mitch stayed home to see the girls off with me. We sent Hattie on the bus because that's her routine, that is her normal. But then we followed the bus to school. We were walking up the school to greet her as she got off the bus, but we weren't fast enough. We watched her walk off the bus and bounce into the school with all her little friends. And then the tears came. This is going to be a huge adjustment for me. I'm used to having my little love with me ALL the time.

She got home and was so excited to tell me about the things she did...the stories they read and who she played with. She was so excited to go back the next day and have her first school lunch. And lucky for me I was volunteering in the cafeteria so I was able to get hugs and remind her to eat not talk, LOL.

Leah came home and breathed a sigh of relief. She liked her teacher and recognized a few kids in her class. It's a big year for her, but shes finally getting her nerves in check and she's ready to tackle 4th grade. Tomorrow she has to take her violin with her, so that will be interesting!

And Kiersten tackled 2nd grade like a champ. She's such a social butterfly. She was excited to see all her friends and she is confident that 2nd grade is going to be fantastic. She loves having the same teacher that Leah had. We are ready for another great year as Mt. Zion Braves!

Orientation

All three girls are attending a new school this year! So we definitely had to make sure we made it to the orientation nights. Hattie was so excited to enter her classroom. She couldn't wait to find her desk and see where she was going to sit. She was so happy to see her teacher, and she has 4 friends from preschool in her class: Khloe, Riley, Norah and Alec. The teacher read them a story, The Night Before Kindergarten. She was in heaven and didn't want to leave.

Kiersten has the same teacher that Leah had, so her orientation was almost like DejaVu. I remembered most of what Mrs. Hatayama does. It was only two years ago. Kiersten was happy to show me her locker and she was exited to have a few friends in her class as well.

Sadly, I don't have a picture from Leah's orientation. I was working at a different school that night, but joined her and Mitch. As I left to go get the littles ready for bed I asked Mitch to snap a picture but he forgot. The transition to 4th grade in Mt. Zion is a big one. It's a much bigger school, they get their own chrome book and then they also start band/orchestra. Leah's is thrilled to be playing the violin, and I think it helps that her two friends Faith and Landon play the violin as well. Excited for these girls and hope they have a great school year!

Goodbye Summer

And that's a wrap on summer 2017! I've never been so sad to see a summer come to an end. Partly because we made so many wonderful memories, and traveled to so many fantastic places. But also because there were so many things we still didn't have time for. Simple trips to the library, days at the surf club, making smores at a campfire. Bu honestly, I think the hardest part of the summer ending is that when school starts I will no longer be a stay-at-home mom with any kids at home. We will have out last first day of kindergarten. She is ready, but I am not.

In the meantime, we are enjoying the time that we do have. We got to spend a day back to school shopping with Gigi in Champaign. We hit the jackpot for kids clothes at TJ Maxx. We even went to the Music Shoppe and Leah got her violin. This kid is so ready to start Orchestra in 4th grade. And of course we got one more trip to the Little Theater in. We saw Curious George and the Golden Meatball. I hope we have many more years of Little Theater fun in front of us.

The Smokey's

This may very well have been the best part of the trip for daddy. He loves sharing the outdoors with these ladies. It was good and chilly when we arrived at Clingmans Dome, but the girls didn't mind. And once we started moving we warmed up quickly. The girls couldn't wait to get up to the top. There was a part at the top where you could be standing in both North Carolina and South Carolina... the girls thought that was pretty cool. When we headed back down the trail we detoured for a bit on to the Appalachian Trail. Mitch had a great time explaining the significance to the girls. After a few hours and a few more stamps in the girls Junior National Parks Passports we hit the road for home, with lots more precious memories to hold on to!

Heading West

We checked out of our condo on Thursday morning and headed West. Mitch wanted to take the girls on a few hikes on the way home. We started with Caesars Head State Park in SC, and then kept on trucking to North Carolina where we took a detour and saw Looking Glass Falls. The girls played in the water a bit, and it was perfect to get out of the car and stretch our legs a bit. We stayed in Cherokee for the night. This was in the area where the Trail of Tears originated. They had all sorts of history for us to take in, but it was too late. We walked around and saw what we could and the next day we headed towards the Great Smokey Mountains National Park.

Beachin

Wednesday was our last chance to hit up the beach. But first, more activities at the resort. The girls enjoyed learning about the state animal of South Carolina, the Loggerhead Turtle and then created a craft. We had lunch and then went back to Surfside Beach. The tide was really low and we found amazing shells, and even a few sharks teeth. We brought home 4 full quart size bags of shells.

When we wrapped up our time at the beach we decided to get some seafood. The girls were excited and gave a few new things a try. We had steamed clams for an appetizer. Mitch and I got a Steam pot so they tried shrimp, crawfish and lobster too. The shared some jumbo lump crab cakes and loved them. After dinner we headed back to the Boardwalk. The girls got to meet Wonder Woman and got to go on a few carnival rides. And we finished the night with some more Meyers Ice Cream. It was a great way to wrap up the vacation.