First Day of School ~ 2018

So we meant to start school in August, but then Pops (a.k.a. Crazy Cowboy Bobby P.) decided to do some creative driving (and rolling, and crashing) in Arizona.  So all plans (and abilities to concentrate) were put on hold for a while.  But by the grace of God Pops is on the mend, and…

Dayspring Academy

version 3.0

is open for business!

Our school boasts one 2nd grader,

one Kindergartner,

one Pre-K…er,

and one Circus Director…I mean Taxi Driver…I mean Teacher-Mommy.

The Little Sir is a Blue Dolphin this year at Chapel Hill Bible Preschool and is more than a little excited about this year.  (Maybe that’s a response – a cry for help, even – to the whole “Circus” reference above?  Or just his deep love of glittery paint and veggie straws.)

The Bigs were sad to see him go,

but are also excited for all the fun they will have this year at CC (Monday co-op) and Deerstream (Wednesday science class).

Mommy is pretty excited about Wednesday (DROP-OFF!!!) mornings as well.  This will be the first time in 8 years that I’ve had a consistent morning all to myself.  I may even try to THINK a little!

We’re all looking forward to the year ahead…lots of fun, lots of learning (or at least some…I hope!), lots of adventures.  I am so very thankful for the opportunity to take this wild ride with our Littles.

Even if it is a circus some (okay…most) times.

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Little Missy’s 8th Birthday Party

Riddle me this…

What do you get when you combine one 8-year-old birthday girl, oodles of fun plans for a mermaid pool party, and a torrential (days-long) rain storm?

A Mommy running around like a chicken with her head cut off, that’s what.

Otherwise known as…

PLAN B.

Since we couldn’t splash in the (chlorinated) waves as planned, our Little Mermaid (and pals) had a blast decorating t-shirts (puffy painting like it was 1985!), making bracelets and other crafts, dancing around like Mermaid-Rockstars, taking out their agua-aggression on an over-stuffed pinata, eating lunch and (massive) ice cream sundaes, and playing together like all Fabulous Lady-Land-Lubbers do.

The Little Miss has the sweetest group of Mermaid-Friends, and they celebrated her so well.  Giggles and sparkle were a-plenty!

Grammie-Mermaid was there too!  And such a huge help!

SPOILER ALERT: Those observant scrollers may notice very soon that several of our activities were actually OUTDOORS.

Yep.  That’s right.  Because Mother Nature decided to wait just long enough for me to change all of our plans, and then she brought out the sun.

Touche, Mother Nature.

It’s all good.

We went wild.  We had fun.

And our girl felt very loved.

It was Mermad-err-iffic!

 

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ARRRRR You Ready For Cousin Camp?!?!

Take a house on the shores of the Chesapeake,

1 (highly) energetic Grandma,

7 (especially) crazy Little People,

2 summer (and cocktail) lovin’ Mamas,

and what do you get?!?

COUSIN CAMP!

Version 2018!

But I’m jumping ahead of myself.

Let me start at the beginning

with The-Cousins-Aren’t-Here-Yet-And-We-Have-Wiggles-To-Woggle

Activity.

Otherwise knows as, a…

PIRATE VOYAGE!

Thanks to Captain Nena!

ARRRRR, Maties!

Some of us were more ferocious looking than others…

We Buccaneers boarded our mighty Man-O-War and were off on a grand adventure!

We even found some LOOT!

Seadogs and Scallywags alike, we all had a swashbucklin’ good time.

Once we became Land Lubbers again,

it was time to shout “AHOY!” to our Cousins!

And head back out to the Big Blue.

For there were battles to wage,

castles to storm,

and doubloons to pilfer!

The waters were often treacherous,

with scurvy dogs who wanted to scuttle our ship

and turn our crew into shark bait.

The sandy shore offered some respite for our Little Pirates.

A time to gather at the scuttled butt, rest our weary bones, and plan for the next attack.

Or just take a nap.

Especially when you’re just a Wee Laddie Pirate.

Or a (tired) Pirate Mama Lass.

Mermaids graced our shores as well.

Mermaids, that is, with a special fondness for all things chocolate and volleyball.

Needing to rest our sea-weary bones a bit, we battened down the hatches and enjoyed some grog with the locals.

(Yay for a visit from Seafarers Uncle Jeff and Aunt Betty!!)

And then raised the union jack again and, led by the Fearless Captain Nena, set sail for another adventure!

Ever see a Pirate hike?

Well, at least some of them did.

Land-bound we may have been, but we were sure there was still enemy forts to storm and booty to be found!

And mosquitoes.  Lots and lots of mosquitoes.

They must have been drawn to our delightful (sweaty) Pirate aroma.

Even wobblin’ along on our sea legs, the hike was worth the effort!

That’s right, me hearties.

It’s a grand thing to get to be a PIRATE at Cousin Camp.

Especially when you have such a MERRY CREW to sail with!

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