Hollister meets Turtle

The recent wet weather we had brought out a turtle in our driveway. Hollister was very intrigued.
He sniffed and followed the turtle (who was not intimidated by the big creature looming over him), as he made his way across the driveway.
In fact, when the turtle began to move, Hollister was the one to jump back !! Silly, lovable dog !!

Ellie's "Fundraising"

Yesterday after school, Ellie asked me if she could go outside. I said yes. Within 5 minutes, she was back inside looking for a cup. She found one with her name on it and went back outside. I could hear her practicing her cheers. I went out to see her and saw that she had the cup sitting next to her. I asked what that was for. She said " Well, I want to earn some money, so I am doing cheers and people can give me money !" I had to give her an "A" for effort and resourcefulness while holding back the laughter.
Here she is, giving it her all to attract some attention .
She earned some change, and pieces of candy !
Gotta love that spirit !

First Day of School 2010

Bethany is a freshman this year !! She is a 9th grader at Cosby HS. So far, she said it is very evident that the students and staff have a lot of school pride. She said she already found a club she wants to join and she has a lot of her friends in her classes. She is off to a great start.
Felicia is starting her first year of middle school. She is a 6th grader at Tomahawk Creek MS
These two were so ready and so excited !
Sam is starting his final year of middle school. He is in 8th grade at Tomahawk Creek MS.
Yes, I actually braved the middle school bus stop, though normally no parents go there. They obliged me with one photo.

Sweet Ellie had to wait the longest. She doesn't get on the bus until 9am !! I'm so proud of my first grade girl! She slept in sponge rollers so she could have curls for the first day.Her teacher is so sweet and Ellie is especially excited that her (boy)friend, Walker, is in her class again !!
After all the kids got off to school, I had to go to work to start setting up my preschool classroom. My three year olds come next week ! After work, i managed (just barely) to make these apple themed cupcakes I saw in Family Fun magazine. They were easy to make and looked so cute to celebrate everyone's first day.
Ellie comes off the bus ready to tell me all about her day !
All 4 back home to report on their days and share a snack !!

Backyard Campout

Felicia decided it would be fun to invite a few friends over and do a sleepover campout in the back yard to celebrate her 11th birthday. What a fun idea ! We planned a trip to the local state park in our area during the afternoon, then returned back to the house for burgers on the grill and a scavenger hunt. The girls packed their tent full of junk food and games and music for the night.

The silly string in their goody bag bandanas was a big hit.
What campout would be complete without a campfire and S'mores ??
Marshmallow on fire !!!!
Everyone in the tent for the night -- Good Night !
Here are their frightened faces !! Silly girls.

Start Spreadin' The News......

I'm leaving today. I want to be a part of it, NEW YORK NEW YORK ! Steve and I planned a little getaway last weekend while up in PA visiting my in-laws. I had not been to NYC since my early twenties and Steve had only been once as a child, so this visit was very exciting ! We took a bus from our old hometown in PA and in less than 2 hrs. , we arrived at the Port Authority in NYC. We walked about 10 blocks to our hotel, where we checked in before touring mid-town for the afternoon.We visited Central Park in the late afternoon, not realizing the size of this enormous park. We only saw about 1/4 of it, but it was beautiful.
A great place to wrap up our first day in NY was to visit Times Square as it got dark. The lights, the people, the hustle and bustle are so much fun to be a part of .There are lots of great people-watching opportunities to be had here !
We enjoyed a nice morning walk across the Brooklyn Bridge. The weather was perfect, the views were fantastic, but it was a little crowded with pedestrians and bikers alike. The cars are driving underneath you, so it's a little surreal, but a really neat experience nonetheless.
We hopped a ride on the (free !) Staten Island Ferry to get a closer up view of The Statue of Liberty. We are not ones to stand in long lines and the line for the Statue of Liberty tour was 3 hours long !!
One thing I was really looking forward to was visiting Chelsea Market, where Food Network headquarters are and the neatest shops are inside the building. They have bakeries and delis, seafood market, cheese and meat market,fresh produce market etc...
The variety of cheeses and meats was amazing ! Everything was so fresh and we sampled several things. The Chelsea neighborhood in NYC was a really neat area. We even found a street festival a few blocks away on that same day.
A great time, lots to see, great food to eat. Can't wait to return soon with the kids !

Tour USA

Every summer I give my kids a project to keep their brains in learning mode. This year I decided that they were going to do a "virtual" tour of the USA, planning an entire trip across our great country, each starting in a different location. They had to choose a method of travel, plan who was going with them, what sites they would see, what and where they would eat and sleep, how many miles would they travel and calculate the cost of everything. Each child came up with a very different plan.They drew out of a hat for their starting point.

Sam began in Maine, took Steve's Scion with his two best buddies, Alex and Zach and traveled to a lot of sports stadiums to see games and went to a race car driving school as well ! They ate at all fast food restaurants !!

Felicia started in California and decided to take an RV with three of her friends and stayed at campgrounds. They purchased most of their food and fixed their own meals, except for occasional meals out. They went to a lot of popular sightseeing places such as the Grand Canyon, but also chose to go to a lot of amusement parks to ride the rollercoasters. (that is what her picture is of that she's holding).

Bethany was VERY original with her trip. She started in Florida and decided to bike across the country, but invited Lance Armstrong along on a tandem bike to help her out !! She also brought along a pet bird, named Alfonso, who sat in a basket on the front of the bike. They would stay at motels until they reached New Mexico, where they took a Teepee Building Class and then slept in their teepee at campgrounds for the rest of their trip. Her excursion had us in stitches. She also decided to buy her food at grocery stores along the way and didn't forget the sunflower seeds Alfonso likes to eat !! Bethany went to a lot of museums and parks on her trip.

I really enjoyed the variation in each of their plans and hopefully one day we can cross some of these interesting destinations off of their bucket lists !

River Rocking

A morning exploring the nature of the James River was time well spent. We wore our old shoes and traveled across a huge footbridge to get to the part of the river where you could go down and climb on the rocks in the water.So much fun. Sometimes we forget all the cool things we have to do right in our own "backyard".
In general, Ellie is pretty girly, so I was surprised that she had such a great time and was less timid in the waters than I thought she would be.
The scenery surrounding us is so pretty in Richmond.
Sam was our leader, guiding us toward the bigger, further out rocks. At one point, Ellie could not do much more, so Steve, Sam and Felicia continued on while Bethany , Ellie and I stayed behind and had a snack.
Felicia is always adventurous and had a great time trying to navigate the water and rocks to get to the next destination.
The kids have been wanting to do this all summer. I'm glad we finally got to go.