NATIONAL COLLEGE COLORS DAY

Bowmar celebrated National College Colors Day today, and while most of the kids showed up in Ol' Miss or Mississippi State or Alcorn or LSU shirts, our kids showed out in their Florida gear - Go Gators!

(These are all the kids that didn't fit into the big group photos - mostly kids with parents born in other states is my guess!)

DINNER WITH ALEX

We met Alex (in town for work) at Cottonwood for dinner and a beer after dance classes tonight. It was so nice to hang out and catch up, and show off our brew pub (still a very big deal for Vicksburg).

BUTTERFLY GIRL

We had dinner plans tonight, so I asked Cora to pack a change of clothes into her dance bag (she had acro tonight), and when I picked her up from class she was wearing the butterfly dress that she wore for kindergarten graduation 2.5 years ago...

It amazes me how many wears she gets out of her favorite clothes!

CASH FOR TRASH

Our school has an extensive Cash for Trash program (Coke rewards, Box Tops, ink cartridges, etc.) and we've had a this bag of Coke caps sitting around for many months. This week was double rewards ($0.10 per cap instead of $0.05), so I bribed the kids with screen time if they helped me get them entered. (For the record, I'm way faster than they are - we need to practice typing at home more!)

(It's hard to read those tiny dots, especially when you don't wear your glasses...)

LAKE DAY ADVENTURE

We were invited and graciously hosted by the Rice family out at Eagle Lake today, where the kids (and we adults) went tubing for the first time (James was very nervous his first time or two out, but then he relaxed and warmed up to the idea of zig-zags and faster turns), and the kids also learned to kneeboard. We were so proud of them both for being brave and trying new things. They both figured out kneeboarding immediately (especially James, who learned to lean side to side and control the board), which really surprised us. We had so much fun and hope we get a chance to go out with them again sometime!

Asher, Autumn, Cora, James, and Abram (yes, the Rice family is the A team):

Just the boys while the girls enjoyed the boat ride:

Dabbing on the tube (that's bravery - no hands!):

Then just the girls while the boys hung out in the boat (we switched out a few times):

Jay and I took turns going out too, and I opted to ride with Sarah since I knew she knew what she was doing and could give me some pointers (and safety tips). I screamed louder than any of the kids, but it was only partially scary - I was mostly yelling for the fun of it!

After Abram (he's only 3 years old) showed them how to kneeboard (and Asher took a turn on the wake board), James jumped right up and took a turn, followed by Cora (who was a little less controlled and confident on the kneeboard, but said she loved it):

Finally, the kids took turns "riding double". First James and Asher, then Autumn and Cora.

They were completely exhausted after a few hours on the water, but we had a skate party to get to! Thankfully it was a 40 minute drive back to town, so they had time for power naps

(We had no phone memory left to take pictures at the skate rink, but they would have been blurry anyway. We promise we had fun there too!)

FRIDAY PLAYDATE

After the Girl Scout meeting, Cora snuck into Cara Beth's car, then BEGGED me to let her go home with the Hearns. Since Sarah had work to do and thought a friend would actually keep Cara Beth quieter (and occupied), I acquiesed to our second impromtu playdate in a week. When I got into the van and James asked where Cora was, I told him I pawned her off on Miss Sarah. He pumped his fist and said "Oh it will be SO QUIET! Hey, can I play video games since she gets to do something fun?" Sure, why not. I didn't pick Cora up until 9pm (after ice cream) and she was apparently very proud of herself (and feeling very powerful), telling Sarah "I can't believe I talked my mama into this!"

FIRST GIRL SCOUT MEETING OF 2018-2019

We ended up with twice as many new girls as we expected and almost everyone from last year returning, so there were about 26 girls in the auditorium with us this afternoon! We talked about what it means to be a Girl Scout, some of the things we plan to do this year, some of the fun things we've done in past years (showing pictures from different events), taught the new girls the Girl Scout Promise and Law, and made Fairy Lights. We had a great time and are really looking forward to expanding our program this year!

THE GIRL WITH THE SPIDER TATTOO

(Can you see it? It's a shadow tattoo from a window cling she made a while back.)

A PARTY AND A PLAYDATE

Cora went to her friend Grace's birthday party this morning. It was a drop-off optional party and she told me to hit the road, so I went grocery shopping. When I got back to pick her up, she and Autumn had called it a day with the waterslide and were busy playing with American Girl dolls (Cora had brought Tenney with her because she knew Grace had lots of dolls and accessories). I was quickly begged to let them continue playing with dolls and decided to do our first impromptu playdate, bringing Autumn home with us for a few hours.

There was dress up and a tea party, chicken feeding, and some sort of new game where they turn out exercise mats (which used to be toddler safety mats) into forts.

(A little bit of foraging fun for the ladies)