66 months

Our busy summer quickly came to an end when we got back from Georgia. We packed lots into our last week while also getting ready for school. We went bowling with friends who we hadn't seen all summer, it is amazing how these kids pick up right where they have left off after not seeing each other for a while. C as always rocked at bowling, I wish the bowling alley was closer, I would sign her up for a league! The girls got their back to school hair cuts, its amazing what taking off an inch or two does to their hair, and how much more tameable it is! We went shopping for first day of school outfits, we were a little late to the game and picking were slim in their sizes, but they both chose a cute dress (of course the same one) after trying on a pile of clothes at Old Navy! Maybe I just need to take my fashionistas shopping and let them try on clothes when we are bored and have nothing to do!

They got to check off a "real" beach day from their summer bucket list. We went up to Clearwater Beach and spent the day with our friends at their beach condo, this is my idea of how to go to the beach! A pool to rinse off in and clean clothes for the ride home keep the sand out of my car! The kids attempted to dig to China, they didn't get there but they did dig deep enough to get to the water. We went looking for shells and to try and catch sea creatures but it was a little rough and we couldn't see in the water because the waves were coming too fast! C wasn't happy that she kept swallowing salt water and pitched a fit about how her mouth tasted, she spent a lot of time playing in the sand so she wouldn't swallow water! The kids had a great day, having awesome friends to play and hang out with make it that much better!

The Thursday before school started was meet the teacher night. We were lucky to find out her teacher the day before, she got J's kindergarten teacher which she (and I) were excited about. Mommy was working PTO so daddy got to read her the class list posted in the hallway, luckily for her she knew a girl from preschool and couldn't wait to tell me when they came to get me from the cafeteria to go with them. We went to C's class first, said hi to her teacher and turned her forms in. We found her name at her table (the pink table), looked around the room, found her cubbie for her backpack, took a few pictures and said goodbye. We then went to J's class where we did the same thing all over again. C has been going to school with me the last two years so she seems to know the routine and where everything is, hopefully she won't be timid and shy the first day. That weekend we had a back to school BBQ at G&G's house and mommy treated them to their first salon mani/pedi, C of course got hers painted purple with glitter on top!

The night before school we picked out their outfits for the entire week, it is something new we are going to do on Sundays to alleviate wardrobe drama each morning and everyone was back to bed at a decent time. The first day of school was a whirlwind! The girls were up bright and early, even before their alarms, everyone was dressed and had eaten breakfast by 7:30am which allowed plenty of time for the obligatory pictures. Since mommy had to volunteer at school all morning we drove up to school, snapped a quick picture of them in front of school, a quick family picture that turned out horrible and before I knew it we were saying goodbye to daddy and walking into school. There was so much commotion that I don't even remember kissing them goodbye, they just took off for the hallway and away they went into the sea of kids, C had no hesitation and even told J that she didn't need to walk her to class! They were excited to see me when school was over, we biked home, C fell a few times on the new windy path and is now afraid to ride her bike. At dinner we talked about the day, C had chosen to pack lunch the first day but immediately told us when we asked about lunch that she would be buying the next day. She was able to tell us a few friends she had made, about PE,  what they did in class, and told us all about the dismissal procedures and where all the kids have to wait, didn't take her long to figure things out! The first week went by in a flash, the girls settled back into their routine of going to bed early and reading, C anxiously awaited her library day and then found out she would have to wait a few more visits to check out a book! Other than reading nightly she doesn't have homework since she has pretty much already mastered all of the sight words, I think she could have just started in first grade!

The girls like to watch College Game Day on Saturdays with daddy so when we found out that they were going to be broadcasting live from the Magic Kingdom for the Miami/Florida game there was no questioning that we had to go! We had already planned to spend the weekend in Tampa at the beach watching the game with friends so what was a little longer drive for the pre-party? Daddy had been out of town for the week so we picked him up Friday night at the Tampa airport, stopped for dinner and headed to Orlando so that we could get up bight and early. On our way to the airport we decided to stop at Walmart and pick up poster board to make signs, mommy was challenged with getting on TV! While the girls went to bed mommy and daddy stayed up making signs for the next day, I was ambitious in wanting to make four signs but after two we were exhausted and called it a night. When the girls work up the next morning they couldn't wait to see the signs, they were dressed faster than the speed of light and gobbled down their breakfast so we could head to the Magic Kingdom. It was our first time going without taking the stroller so they were super excited to be able to ride the tram from the parking lot, what a whole new experience Disney is without a stroller (it was just for this day since we didn't plan to stay long or venture very far from Main Street). We sweat like pigs waiting for the show to begin, we got there about 45 minutes before the show started and someone quickly lost her patience while waiting! When the guys finally came out someone had a little better of an attitude and put up with the other three of us being excited. We waited through the first couple of commercial breaks, texting with everyone we knew watching to see if they had seen us on TV yet, and then headed off to cool down and ride a couple of rides. Daddy got back to the crowd before we did, it was so hot the girls wanted to ride the Carousel of Progress to cool down, and finally just before 11am we made our way back for the last part of the show, mommy was bound to get on TV, which I did, daddy had gotten on TV earlier in the morning.  When the show was over we waited around to see them all exit the set and got all but Corso to sign our sign, made all the sweating worth it! We stopped for a quick lunch and at Staples to have our sign laminated before heading back to Tampa for the game.

Two hotels in two nights was a first for the girls. They are quickly turning into hotel snobs and if we do not get a suite they complain! We spent the evening with our good friends (C's boyfriends family) at their beach condos club room watching the Canes game and crafting some pretty snazzy Canes flip flops. I don't remember much of the game, neither do the kids, they were too busy having fun and playing with their friends, I was too buys talking. In the end we lost but put up a pretty good fight trying. Sunday morning we had some donuts at the hotel and then headed back over to the condo for a beach day and lunch before we headed back home. The kids had a great time with each other, the waves were a lot calmer than when we were there a few weeks back, we got to dip net and found quite a few small sea creatures. But of course they decided they wanted to build them a pool in the sand and suffocated them all! It was a busy but great weekend, one the girls will be talking about for some time!

 Here are the pictures from the month.