Reading

Last night, Scarlett came home from school with 6 new Scholastic books.  We started to read the first one together - a Brave book.  It's a step into reading book with a very simple story.  I pointed to the first word because it was one of her sight words and she took off from there and proceeded to read me the whole book!!  I had to help here and there with hard words, but I was amazed that she read it all!  So smart!

Disney Trip

We just got back from our third Disney vacation with the girls.  We had a great time!  The crowds were really low and there was very little wait for anything.  I love being able to just jump on every ride!  The weather was ok - it was really hot the first day, then rained off and on the rest of the week.  It didn't stop us though...we still got to do everything that we wanted to do and more!  

Day 1 was Epcot.  We visited lots of characters.  Elle LOVED them this time!  She came running up to all of them and gave BIG hugs.  

We had a late lunch with the princesses, which was great!  Elle was SO into it this time.  She even tackled Snow White on her way to another table.  The girls just love meeting the princesses!  

We even got to meet Duffy - the Disney bear.  The girls were beyond thrilled!  

Day 2 was Magic Kingdom.  We got there when they opened and rode ride after ride with no wait.  We got to visit part of the new Fantasyland - new Dumbo and a new Goofy roller coaster.  The girls LOVED the roller coaster.  We even rode it 2 times in a row!

We got to see Aladdin and Jasmine this time.  Jasmine even gave the girls kisses!

Balloons are always a hit!

Day 3 was Animal Kingdom.  We enjoyed the Nemo and Lion King shows (well, Scarlett really did...Elle pitched it).  The safari is really cool as well.  Scarlett's favorite was riding the Everest roller coaster with Daddy.  

Day 4 was Hollywood Studios.  The girls loved the Ariel, Belle, and Disney Junior shows.  Scarlett and Cameron rode the Star Wars ride which excites both of them!  We had lunch at a cool little 50's cafe.  It was our shorter day, so we went to Downtown Disney from the park.  The girls both got their souvenirs (Elle got Dumbo and Scarlett got Lady) and we ate dinner at Fulton's Crab House (delicious!).  

Day 5 we went back to Magic Kingdom.  We ran straight to Merida after the gate opened.  The girls were so thrilled to get to meet her!  

They even had a practice bow and arrow set up.  Scarlett got a bullseye! She wants to be Merida when she grows up now because she's REALLY good at the bow and arrow.  

We rode a few more rides that we had missed the first day and many more for a second time, had a good lunch at Liberty Tree Tavern, had one last ice cream, and called it a day early (at 3).  

We had a fantastic trip and are thoroughly exhausted!  See all the pictures HERE

Smart Girl

 

It just amazes me how smart Scarlett is at just 4. She's writing so much (I help her spell most stuff). She has been in PK4 for just 2 weeks now and she's taking in everything the teacher can throw at her. She's started writing with upper and lower case letters now. Last night's homework was to find 5 things in your environment that start with M. Scarlett wanted to write them down. Of course she had to add "homework" so we would know what it was :). I had to beg her to stop and watch tv and go to bed. The girl loves work!

 

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Hurricane Isaac

Well, the past week has been no fun for us as we were hit by Hurricane Isaac.  The storm itself wasn't a problem.  It was rainy and windy most of Tuesday, then it really hit overnight.  We heard a lot of wind and rain, but for the most part we all slept through it.  The REAL pain started on Wednesday morning when our power went out and didn't return for FIVE days.  Yes, FIVE.  The first day was expected and not too bad.  The temperature outside was still in the high 70's, so it was bearable inside.  We hooked up the generator to run the fridge and cooked out on the grill outside.

Entertainment

Watching the rest of the storm pass

Day 2 was a little more annoying and getting hotter as the storm passed entirely and the sun returned.  We spent some time outside cleaning up branches and leaves (that was the extent of the damage we saw).

By day 3 it was unbearably hot in this house.  We couldn't even go upstairs without immediately being soaked with sweat.  It must have been at least 90 up there.  The downstairs was a little better and we bought fans to hook up to the generator.  We started all sleeping together downstairs with fans on full blast.  During the day we couldn't even be in the house.  We started looking for ANY way at all to get out of the "hot box".  We ate out 3 meals a day, wandered around Target, Home Depot, any open store really just to rest in the AC.  The girls parked themselves in front of the display tvs at Best Buy one afternoon - just happy as could be.  They got pretty cranky when we sat in this HOT house.  Oh, and did I mention our water heater is electric too?  That cold bath did NOT go over well!  Our power finally returned Sunday night and we could not have been happier about it!  Life is getting back to normal here with the girls returning to school (it was cancelled all last week) and catching up on all those errands I didn't get to do last week.  Let's hope there are no more storms brewing for 2012!  Or 2013 for that matter...