Hello!

Sorry for the long absence...I've been without a computer the last couple weeks! Long story, but after 3 weeks of dealing with the Apple store (and a nice little chat with the manager) the issue has been resolved plus I got Aperture 3 for FREE! Awesome! I will be posting (and most likely back dating) our summer adventures and school starting. Please be patient, I need to retrieve our photos from our back-up. I'm back!!!!!

The bus incident

We had another incident with Popcorn and the bus the very first day of school...

A little background: last year on the first day of Kindergarten Popcorn initially got off at the wrong bus stop. I guess the bus stopped and she hopped up and followed the other kids. Luckily a friend of Sweetie's noticed Popcorn and alerted Sweetie, who jumped into action and Popcorn was safely put back on the bus and everyone got home safe and sound.

This year on the first day of school I was waiting at the bus stop with Cutie Pie and our neighbor. We had cameras in hand, ready to hear about the first day. The bus stops and neighbor girl gets off, followed by Sweetie. Doors close and away goes the bus. No Popcorn??!!!!!

Upon questioning Sweetie and neighbor girl no one recalls seeing Popcorn on the bus! Strange. Panic begins to set in. I called the school and said something to the effect of: "My oldest got off the bus, my 1st grader is no where to be seen. I'm trying to figure out where she is." I was nice, I was calm.

My main fear was that she got off at the wrong stop and was wandering around alone and afraid. I wasn't entirely sure she knew our address. It had been a few months since they had been in school. So I'm on hold at the school. It's probably 100 degrees outside (in the shade) and I'm standing in the sun. My legs got all red, I was super hot. Sweetie started wailing (did I mention she has a flair for drama?) and was sent inside with Cutie Pie.

I ran up the street and was talking to another neighbor who get this- had a missing Kindergartner for 3 hours!!!! Several years ago her daughter had fallen asleep on the bus, the driver didn't get up to actually check the rows. She wasn't found until the bus pulled into the parking lot at night and the driver actually got up and walked each row!

Okay, so her story didn't make me feel much better. More panic. More holding. The secretary would check back in with me here and there...Popcorn was put into the correct bus line, something went haywire from there. At last (after about 30 minutes which felt much longer than that) it was determined that she got onto the wrong bus. There are at least 4 Elementary school buses that come to our neighborhood, nice Mr. bus driver brought Popcorn home.

She was fine, a little scared but fine. Upon further questioning Popcorn said she was talking to a friend and I guess she marched right onto friend's bus.

It was traumatizing enough that I now pick her up from school. It was a fight to get her to even rider the bus to school, but I assured her all would be well, she gets on with Sweetie, and she even gets escorted to her classroom. And so the school year has begun!!!

First day of school

Today they returned to school! It seems a little strange since it's still so darn hot!

Here's Sweetie in her one picture. She informed me that she's too old to pose for such silly photos!

Popcorn (aka Toothless Wonder) on the other hand was all about the posing. Here's a front view with her super cool lunch box:

Side view:
Her backpack:
The whole crew waiting for the bus:

Mars Picnic

We had TONS of fun at the Mars Company Picnic this year! Upon arrival the girls got their faces painted., we thought it would be good to do the 'sit still' activities first. Here's Sweetie with her flower and Popcorn with her blue unicorn:

Cutie Pie liked the unicorn and decided she wanted a pink one:
Then we had our caricature drawings done. Ladd got a picture of him on a bike, Sweetie was swimming, Cutie Pie became a ballerina, I had a camera in hand and here's Popcorn becoming a Princess:
After a yummy lunch Ladd and I went on a zip line. You had to climb a rather tall pole in order to zip down. It was an adventurous adrenaline rush! Then we went swimming in the kid friendly pool (sorry, no pictures, didn't want the camera to get wet). After the water fun the girls wanted to get balloons. Cutie Pie got a Princess wand:

Popcorn got a butterfly:

Sweetie got a puppy balloon. We also took a break to have some delicious ice cream treats. The perk of Mars is that we got the good stuff: snickers and twix ice cream bars, m&m cookie ice cream sandwiches, and Dove ice cream bars. Yum!

We look forward to next year!

Beach vacation

We took a trip to Sunset Beach, NC the last week of July. It was a fun week of sun and sand with Ladd's family. Here's Cutie Pie building a sand castle:

Sweetie and Cutie Pie together:

Popcorn and our new friend...Sweetie saw him building a sand castle and walked up to him, introduced herself and they began playing together. He's also 9yrs old and gets mistaken for being older all the time, just like Sweetie. They had hours of fun together!

After the sand castle they moved onto burying each other. It was fun at first, then the sand began to bother the girls. Luckily our new friend was staying right off the beach so we got to use their outdoor shower. They even fed us lunch so we would stay longer and play! Sweetie and our new friend traded email addresses and they're already sent messages back and forth!

Cutie Pie didn't want anything to do with the ocean, on our last day there we finally got her into the water and she loved it!

We took a day trip to Charleston, SC. Here we are by the water:

It was a hot and humid day. We did some exploring but everyone got super hot. We saw this fountain and had to take a closer look...here they are mostly still dry:

It wasn't long until all the girls were completely soaked (luckily we were prepared with an extra change of clothes for everyone). They had a ton of fun!

Trying to gather everyone to leave. What I find funny about this picture is how just at a glance you can see their personalities: Sweetie isn't happy about leaving but she cooperates. Cutie Pie follows her lead and then tries to talk Popcorn into doing the same. Popcorn just likes to sit and argue or flat out ignore you!