Back to school

The older girls (Madeline, Eloise, and Sarah Jane) decided that they had had enough summer vacation, and that they were willing to go back to school yesterday.

They eagerly awaited the bus, then nervously awaited the bus, then frantically awaited the bus. Finally the bus came 5 minutes before school started. New driver.

The day was particularly special for Sarah Jane. It was her first day of school--full day kindergarten with Ms. Lawson. Flori offered to drive Sarah to school, but she said she wanted to take the bus. By the way, Sarah says she now prefers "Sally," although we've yet to see whether it will stick. I read her a bit of Sandburg's biography of Abraham Lincoln last week and she heard how much Abe loved his step-mom, whose name was Sally.

Eloise has Ms. Trice and Maddie has Ms. Johnson. I think they will be great teachers for the girls.

The girls returned hot (no AC on the bus) but happy. Sarah Jane loved kindergarten so much that she wrote the story below.

They were . . . dancing

The girls have demanded more dancing. Flori and I took a bit of a turn at some Latin style moves and then Madeline and Eloise took the scene with a little Saturday night fever. Hopefully this won't make Aunt Carrie cringe too much. Pure silliness.

Back to school dates

These last weeks have been cookers--several triple digits in a row with lots of humidity. Fun. The lawn is browning, but at least my drought tolerant weeds are staying green. The crepe Myrtles are out though, very pretty.
With school starting next week, we have been doing some daddy/daughter dates. Maddie and I went to the new Harry Potter movie. Eloise and I went to North Davidson (NoDa) for the monthly gallery crawl. NoDa is an artsy neighborhood in Charlotte that has lots of painting and mixed media galleries. Eloise was just soaking up the creative ideas. Afterwards we got "our table" at FiveGuys burgers and fries. The spuds of the day were from Ashton, ID. An unknowing worker spelled the source Ashten, ID - a farm faux pas to be sure.

Sarah Jane and I hit the nearest Waffle House for some Saturday morning breakfast.



Afterwards Sarah and I did a little dancing. Click the link below to see our progress:

If you were on a desert island . . .

Having recovered from our vacation a month ago, the girls have shifted with full dispatch into their home routines.

This week Eloise raided our recycling bin AGAIN for supplies to build a Polly Pocket castle. She started with an empty tissue box and was asking questions like, "Do we have any old carpet scraps that I could use? What about wallpaper samples?" Since we were fresh out of carpet and wallpaper samples, she deftly compensated by using the lining of a security envelopes to wallpaper the castle is a crisp blue pattern. Her artistic vision is quite impressive and we've come to expect big things from her. We asked her, "If you were stranded on an island, what are the five most necessary art supplies you would want to have?"

Her matter of fact answer: "glue, tape, scissors, cardboard and ....imagination." Creativity in motion. So next time you're on a desert island--or a dessert island for that matter--don't forget the imagination.

We are finishing up the summer with final rounds of play groups, swimming, birthday parties, and barbecues. School supplies are stacked in every corner, and Maddie and Eloise are anxiously awaiting their class assignments. They've managed to pass the time by reading anything they can get their hands on. The librarians always look doubtful that we'll be able to get through 300 lbs of books. Sarah Jane has her teacher assignment and can't wait to meet Mrs. Lawson, who holds the key to her kindergarten future.

Bea is captivating us daily with fresh smiles and laughter that's bubbling just under the surface. We haven't heard the real thing yet, but the preamble is adorable. She is sleeping better at night and making lots of cute noises and coos during the day.

For more photographic fun - click below.

Desert island