The first day of school on the second day of school

Of course she chose the sparkly pink shirt! What else would you wear on your first day of 2nd grade!

When I said I wanted a picture with their backpacks, Taya said "Come on Chloe, give mom a little shoulder action."

I followed Chloe to her locker and embarrassed her by taking her picture by it. Taya is in the background saying "Mom hurry up. You are so embarrassing!"

Well, it wasn't a typical start to the school year this year. The girls have spent the entire month of September being sick. They started getting sick on the 1st and were lethargic, complaining of a headache and stomachache and had fevers as high as 103.6 the whole weekend. Me, being the know-it-all nurse that I am, thought it was viral and they would just get over it. No reason to bring them in. Finally, on Monday they weren't getting any better so I brought both the ladies to urgent care. And, guess what? Both were positive for strep throat! EEK! Neither one of the girls will take medication. And I mean, they won't take it. Taking medication involves holding them down and practically pouring it down their throats. So, I was mean and opted for the shot of antibiotics. They had to miss their first day of school because they were still contagious and they spent the entire day yesterday limping around or, in Chloe's case, refusing to walk on their leg at all. You would have thought someone stabbed them. Geez! 

But, I woke them up this morning and said, "Okay, ladies! Time for your first day of school!" and they did get up and get moving. Slowly, but they made it!

I wasn't too worried about Chloe because she is an experienced elementary school student. "It is my third year, mom. I know what I'm doing.", Chloe told me. However, Taya had missed the first day of school. She is starting middle school this year. The first day of school only the 6th graders start so they can be eased in and have an orientation before throwing the 7th and 8th graders in the mix! So, Taya missed that. I was really nervous when I dropped her off. It seemed like there were so many kids. There are 327 students in her 6th grade class this year! I'm worried she won't be able to find her homeroom or figure out how to open her locker! Well, being a parent means letting go and that it exactly what I had to do this morning.

Good luck ladies! I hope you have a fantastic day! Now, what am I going to do with all of my free time?

The Wisconsin Dells

Our very cool room

Chloe leaping right in!

Taya waiting in line for the water slides...

Taya getting flushed down the giant toilet water slide

Taya & her friend Paige on the lazy river

Molly loves the water

Corey & Chloe enjoying the hot tub

Mike & Maggie on the go karts

Go Taya!!

Even I got in on the rock climbing action. Yah, I didn't win this race!!

Chloe & I on the climbing (very high & scary) obstacle course

Round of mini-golf anyone?

Me & my bestie

About to go on the ferris wheel...Hang on kids!

All the kids at the Moose Jaw

Maggie--you are such a sweetheart!

Molly's beautiful smile!

Yup! Everyone was embarrassed when I asked the waiter to take our picture!

The Tommy Bartlett Water Show

These two were just plain nuts, but so fun to watch.

Taya getting her feather

Chloe getting her feather

Taya, Paige & Chloe with the stars of the Rick Wilcox Magic Show

The last week of my vaca in August we took the girls to the Wisconsin Dells. We went with Mike & Tracy and their four kids, Tracy's nephew and Taya brought a friend. Four adults and 8 kids...we were outnumbered! Luckily, we had a nice big 3 bedroom, 3 bath condo with a full kitchen, living room and fireplace. It was the bomb! We stayed at the Kalahari resort. The girls had an ABSOLUTE BLAST! It was like Las Vegas for kids. There was a huge indoor and outdoor water park with about 8 or 9 water slides. The resort also had an indoor theme park with rock climbing, video games, miniature golf, go-karts, a ferris wheel, a climbing obstacle course, and a merry-go-round for the little kids. We spent hours and hours at the water park, theme park and swimming in the pool each day. We enjoyed the Tommy Bartlett Water Show where there were people on water skis that performed dare-devil tricks, comedians, jugglers, and two crazy people that ran inside two giant spinning wheels. We also spent one evening attending the Rick Wilcox Magic show. It was really neat to see a magician live. He made cars and helicopters appear, his lovely assistant disappear and had all kind of tricks and illusions. The girls said the magic show was their favorite part of the trip. We also ate out one night at the Moose Jaw! The girls all got feathers in their hair and loved picking out treats at the candy shop. Fun, fun, fun!!!