BRIANNA HAS A TEA PARTY

On Monday night, Brianna approached me about having a Tea Party to celebrate the voting on Tuesday. I guess she has been listening to the news about the political Tea Party and decided to have one of her own.

HALLOWEEN FESTIVITIES

We did so much to celebrate this fun holiday. We visited Boo in the Zoo, went to Hallelujah Night at Praise Cathedral and went trick or treating on Halloween with Robbie and Macy. This year, Brianna dressed up as a vampire. She insisted on spray painting her hair and wearing vampire teeth. I even got "groovy" at work as we all dressed up as hippies.
Here are some of the pictures from all the fun.

1st NINE WEEKS REPORT CARD

Brianna is doing really well in school this year. She was recognized by her classmates as Student of the Month for September and she scored higher than the "average" on her MAP testing. Miss Flynn says she is an excellent student and is doing wonderful with chapter books. Brianna brought her report card home today and these are her grades:
Language Arts 99
Reading 97
Math 97
Science 100
Social Studies 96

Brian and I are very proud of our little girl. I hope her success continues!

SKYTOP APPLE ORCHARD

GIRL SCOUT CAMP

Last weekend, we went with our scout troop to Camp Wabak. We stayed Friday and Saturday night. Friday night the girls enjoyed a campfire and roasted marshmallows for smores. Saturday, they got to go fishing and canoeing, went on a creek hike, made arts and crafts, and took a dip in the pool. That night, we made baby boats, lit the candles, and everyone sent them out into the lake. The girls also had a dance party back at our cabin. They sure do love Justin Beiber! We left Sunday morning and headed back home. We can't wait till next year!

BRIANNA STARTS 2ND GRADE

Brianna got off to a great start on her first day back at school. She woke up at 6:45, with little prodding. She enjoyed a pancake breakfast and watched some cartoons. She then got dressed, let me roll her hair and we headed out the door at 7:40. I asked her tonight how her first day back went and she said, "Oh, Awesome!"

I hope this will be a terrific year!

A GREAT TIME AT GREAT WOLF LODGE

We weren't able to go on a long summer vacation this year because of work. Instead we took a weekend to Concord NC to visit Great Wolf Lodge. Brianna's friend, Kyleah, went with us.
For some of you that aren't familiar with it, Great Wolf is a hotel with an indoor/outdoor water park. The water park consisted of a wave pool, a kiddie adventure park, an obstacle course pool, about 5 different water slides, and Fort McKenzie. Fort McKenzie was the girls favorite. About every 15 minutes the big bucket on the top would fill with water and come crashing down on everyone below. Brianna just loved that. In addition to playing in the water park, the girls enjoyed a game of MagicQuest. MagicQuest is a scavenger hunt throughout the hotel with Magic Wands in which you save a princess and slay a dragon. Brianna spent alot of time doing this. We also played a game of putt-putt, spent time in the arcade, and even made a stuffed animal in Animal Land. Great Wolf also has a Cubs Club. This is a room where the kids can make all kinds of arts and crafts. Brianna and Kyleah colored their own knapsacks. One of Brianna's favorite things she did was getting a pedicure at Scoops Kids Spa. This was an ice cream themed spa. She could pick what flavor fizz she wanted in her foot bath and what flavor lotion she wanted massaged on her legs. She could even pick a "topping" for her polished toes. Both Kyleah and Brianna ate this stuff up-no pun intended!
We checked into the hotel Friday afternoon and checked out Sunday morning. One of the good things about it was even after check out, you could still stay at the water park and play. So after one more round of MagicQuest, a visit to the pools, and a few quick games in the arcade we were on our way home. It may not have been a trip to the beach or a visit to an amusement park, but I'm sure it was one of Brianna's best vacations!