RAIN DANCERS

Anytime their home when the lightening threat passes, they're out there, prancing around in the puddles and swinging in the rain.

TIP TAP

Both kids agree that Tap / Musical Theater is their favorite class this year! (I'm so glad we talked them out of Hip Hop...) They get to work with Ms. Bridgett, but also one of their favorite "big girls", Ms. Beth, who is hands-down the silliest and most fun teenager I've ever met. She is so patient with the younger kids and she knows how to make them feel important by always giving each of them individual attention (hellos, hugs, high-fives, etc. and asking them about their days).

(Little rainbow after the storm this evening, as we went out to grab dinner while James was in his final dance class of the night and bring it back to him.)

SHOW WITH MY SUPERHERO

I surprised James with a mommy-son date night tonight! I took him to the Southern Cultural Heritage Foundation's Show With My Superhero fundraiser. We dressed up, ate cupcakes and popcorn, and watched Lego Batman with a bunch of other little boys and their mamas. After the show, the kids rushed the stage for a dance party, played some spontaneous games of superhero tag, then tried to win a jar full of jellybeans and a superhero themed backpack by guessing the number of beans. James was so pleased to go out alone with me (and even more pleased that I let him run a bit wild in a new-to-him place filled with stairs and "pulpits" and a stage).

 (He was also pleased that even though he had to attend a 2-hour Steering Committee meeting for Cora's Girl Scout Troop before the show, he was allowed to play video games with his friend Sammy the whole time AND Cora didn't get to go to the Hearn's house - sometimes even the smallest extra perk means a great deal to little kids!)

BED SHARING

RED BRICK ROADS: 2017

We joined the Kennedys for Clinton's Red Brick Roads craft beer event again this year, and it was very much like last year, only with more food trucks and the freedom to walk the (closed-off) streets with our beers. And it was a lot cooler out. And there were plenty of picnic tables, so Christina and I had real seats on which to sit and chat. We stayed for a few hours, then went back to the Kennedy abode for pizza and more playing. The kids had a great evening and so did we!

 Brick Street Pops for the win!

(The boys rode with us, while the girls rode with Al and Christina - a request that is becoming typical now that they're all in regular booster seats without harnesses sized to specific bodies)

SATURDAY MILES: 8+1

I joined the running group for my first Saturday Group Run this year and ended up getting over 8 miles for the morning (don't worry mom, it was very slow with LOTS of walk breaks - it took us nearly 2 hours!) I felt fine (other than being tired - my endurance is nowhere near back to "normal" yet, and it's still very hot and humid here), enjoyed the tailgate, then made it home to our neighborhood to find Jay and the kids doing their own mile. I was so proud of them!

COFFEE HOUSE BREAK

It's Friday! And since the kids had good behavior reports all week and some successful AR tests, we celebrated with a treat. Instead of ice cream, we went to Cafe Paradiso for coffee (for mama) and cake pops. Only James saw lemon bars and was intrigued (probably by their much larger size than the cake pops), so he had that instead (and he loved it, and Jay was very jealous). After their snack, they changed into their dance clothes and hung out with new library books until we had to leave to head to the studio. I'm finding that their new school being downtown is causing us to utilize the library, gym, and other in-town amenities far more than we have the past couple of years (because clearly it was too much effort to drive all the way back to town after picking them up from school and going by the house).

 (James wanted a photo of himself in his "ninja" outfit for dance - he had gone through all the other color combos from his dance bag the past two days and was left with only black)

BOOTCAMP BUDDIES

Jay and I started Bootcamp tonight (one of Amy's 6-week sessions), and while it was really hard (we're both very out of shape, so the fit test was both difficult and disappointing - but we'll certainly see a lot of growth when we test again in 6 weeks!), it was also fun to get to workout together and end the day feeling so accomplished! (I was smiling ear-to-ear, even though my quads were shaking and sweat was soaking every inch of my gym clothes...) I've really missed working out with Jay!

We haven't taken the kids with us to the gym during an afternoon/evening workout in FOREVER (it's been hard to justify our YMCA membership during the school year, with our house and the kids' school on the opposite side of town and plenty of extracurricular activities to fill our week, though we did sneak in for a few workouts together this summer while they were at Daycamp), but they easily made themselves at home in the "nursery" when we dropped them off (with instructions to finish the homework they'd started before we got there, before they were allowed to play), and we found James out in the lobby with a couple other Bootcamp kids playing the new foosball game when we got out of class. They're looking forward to Tuesdays as much as we are now!

ECLIPSE 2017

We didn't have a total eclipse here in Vicksburg (and yes, we're jealous of those who were in the path of totality - we weren't able to take the time off work to travel for it), but it was still one of the coolest things I've ever seen, and getting to experience it with a school full of excited kids was extra special. At Bowmar, they allowed the 3rd-6th Graders (with signed permission slips) to go outside for 15-20 minutes and watch the peak eclipse (multiple parents chipped in to purchase solar glasses for all the students in the upper grades). Since Cora wasn't going to be able to go out with her class, we took a late lunch break and checked her out of class to spend an hour with us watching the eclipse inch towards it's peak. When James' class came out, we went to hang with him for a bit, then checked her back into class for math lessons.

First glimpse:

Hanging out with her good buddy Cara Beth (whose mama also took her out of class - there were quite a few K-2nd Grade students out with parents):

 Perhaps the coolest part (the sun crescents shining through the trees):

 Loving every extra minute outside experiencing this (perhaps) once-in-a-lifetime event (and not at all bothered by the scorching hot asphalt, apparently... the parents and teachers chose to stand):

 All the big kids taking in the peak eclipse (it did not get dark, or really even noticeably darker - we were just thankful the clouds moved out before the show!):

 (Each class had a labeled cone to sit near - the organization at this school is so refreshing for an OCD mama like myself!)

POOL BREAK

We needed a break from chores and kitchen painting, so we headed to the pool this afternoon for some fun in the sun. Cora and James were thrilled to find their best buddies Emma and Coltin already there, jumping off the diving board, so we joined in and stayed longer than planned.

CLAW'DIA THE COMPLIANT

ACRO TEAM

James moved up to Acro 2 this fall, so he and Cora are in the same class (she needs to gain some strength and confidence before she can move up to Acro 3). They have quite a few friends in there with them and seemed to really enjoy their first session!

SWEET SNOOZERS

(Yes, they fall asleep anywhere and everywhere. Lucky.)

EGGS FROM THE NEW CREW

We started getting eggs from the new Bantams this week, followed closely by a tiny fairy egg, then eggs from the other new girls, and finally Elsa and Chickaletta have started laying again!

(Elsa's Bantam egg, Bantam egg from Sprinkles or Sparkles - they look the same, and somebody's fairy egg)

 We finally need to start taking the egg collecting basket out with us again!

BACK TO DANCE

The kids returned to dance today with an all day (5.5 hours!) first rehearsal for the upcoming (end of September) Vicksburg Preservation Celebration Weekend, where RiverPointe is putting on a 1.5 hour recital covering the history of Vicksburg. James will be in 6 numbers and Cora will be in 5, ranging from the Natchez Native Americans through the French fur traders through the Spanish military outpost through Newitt Vick's founding of Vicksburg through the Siege of Vicksburg through the Sprague (the world's largest steam powered sternwheeler towboat) through the building of the railroad across the Mighty Mississippi through the bottling of Coca Cola through the river boats - the finale will be a rousing rendition of Proud Mary... Rollin' on the River! There will be ballet, jazz, contemporary, tap, and even Can Can. It's going to be a blast (and a lot of costume changes)!

Somehow, after all that rehearsal (where they learned every single dance!), they still had enough energy to return to the studio at 7pm for a glow stick dance party. They had such an awesome day - we're really thankful to be part of the RiverPointe family!!

FIRST FRIDAY

After a mere two days, the kids' first week back to school is complete!

 They celebrated with 30 minutes sweltering out on the playground, followed by chores at home, then dinner out at Martin's for Grayton Pints Night (root beer and cupcakes for the kids, in addition to some much anticipated Kindle time). 

 And to top off the week, Cora brought home a great behavior report (we can check her status throughout the day, as well as exchange messages with her teacher - we're really liking Class Dojo!)

FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL: 2017

 They were both super excited, yet Cora kept yawning in between photos, so they thought it would be funny to take a posed fake yawn picture:

We bumped into a few parents we knew in the parking lot as we walked the kids inside (normally we won't this year - it's allowed, but not preferred, as they have much stricter safety rules at Bowmar), so we asked one of them to grab a family photo for us:

 Cora was one of the first kids into her class (we got there early in anticipated of traffic), so she allowed a photo at her desk. For James, I didn't even ask, and instead grabbed one of the way up the stairs to his classroom (on the left). And please notice the pun outside his room (Our "Beary" Best) - makes him smile big!

Their principal went around to every classroom today to snap photos:

 And the verdict? They had a great first day, played with their friends, and already love their new school. We couldn't be more proud of them!