First Day of Brownies-and a missing tooth!

The last of our regular activities kicked off in September also when Rosemary started Girl Scouts again, this time as a Brownie!

Ben and Charlotte wanted in on the picture taking, too. And do you see that missing tooth? That fell out the night that Jonathan was gone for his mud run. I was a little nervous the tooth fairy might forget to stop by, however, Rosemary left notes for the tooth fairy, one on her behalf and one on Ben’s. The one for Ben included a request for $1 and a fake paper tooth. They were excited to find not only a bit of money the next day, but also notes back to them. The one to Rosemary read:

Dearest Rosemary,

How exciting that you lost your third tooth! I have been waiting for that tooth to come out for weeks so that I could visit you. It is a lovely tooth and I can tell that you take excellent care of your teeth. I believe that it is the whitest one that I have picked up all week!

I wish I could wake you up so that we could talk and play with your American Girls and other toys, but that would spoil my magic. I really am quite small. It makes it much easier to fly.

Keep brushing and flossing!

Love,

The Tooth Fairy

And Ben’s read:

Dearest Benjamin,

I don’t believe we have met before, so allow me to introduce myself. I am the Tooth Fairy and I collect baby teeth from children around the world. Whenever I collect a tooth, I must weigh it on my magical tooth scale. The tooth I found by your pillow weighed as paper! Were you (or Rosemary) trying to trick me? I am much too smart for that.

I look forward to collecting your real teeth in the future. Until then, enjoy the quarter that I left. This only works one time, so next time Rosemary loses a tooth, I can only leave her a gift. When you lose your first tooth, I will leave you something special, too. I am so looking forward to that day! I think it will probably be soon.

Keep brushing and flossing!

Love,

The Tooth Fairy

Ormond Beach–last beach trip of the season

Jonathan’s parents invited us to Ormond Beach for a quick getaway one weekend in mid-September. Jonathan had plans to do a mud run with Bennett on Saturday morning, so he drove down to Clermont Friday night and we all met over in Ormond Saturday afternoon.

When the kids and I arrived and met Janice and Richard, we unloaded then headed to the pool for a swim. Jonathan arrived a bit later and we enjoyed taco soup for dinner. After visiting a bit, we headed to bed.

In the morning we met up for breakfast downstairs, then got ready for a day on the beach. While we were getting ready, Charlotte found Rosemary’s pink chapstick and applied ‘a bit’ to her lips, chin, and cheeks.

This girl…she keeps us on our toes!

At the beach! The kids were all a bit leery of the water ever since watching Shark Week the month before.

 

About the farthest out they got that day. Soon after this, a woman came up and told us she’d seen a fin in the water. A few minutes after that, a lifeguard came by and told us a fisherman reported seeing (and having to fight off) a bull shark so we needed to stay out of the water. This was the first time I’d ever been called out of the water because of a shark sighting.

The kids were happy to play up in the sand anyway.

We enjoyed leftovers for lunch then I got showered and changed and headed back to Gainesville so I could work. Jonathan and the kids stayed and got to see a fisherman actually catch a blacktip shark. It was all very exciting.

Rosemary Reading to Charlotte

Just thought this was sweet.

The girls dressed in matching nightgowns, sitting together in the glider, reading the Very Hungry Caterpillar.

First CCH Co-op of the 2013-2014 Year

We kicked off our co-op year in September. This year we’re learning about Astronomy and music and art.

Ben was very excited to officially be a part of co-op this year.

Bag is packed and super ready!

I had the older kids for art first. We learned about Michaelangelo.

Ben didn’t like painting on his back so much, but he did a bit of his background.

Rosemary really got into it.

It was a fun first day. We are so thankful for the families that are in our group.

First Upward Soccer Game

Soccer season kicked into high gear at the beginning of September when games started up on Thursdays. Half of Ben and Rosemary’s games were at the same time and the other half were an hour apart.

Ben is ready!

So is Rosemary. This was her very first soccer game ever and she was as cool as a cucumber.

Rosemary scored two goals during her first game!

Rosemary’s team (unofficially) won. They don’t keep score in Upward…but all the kids knew how they did.

Jonathan’s Birthday

While Jonathan’s birthday typically falls over the Labor Day weekend, this year it landed on a Wednesday. So to celebrate we made jambalaya and beignets.

Middle Georgia Camping

Over Labor Day weekend, we packed up our camping gear and headed to High Falls State Park in middle Georgia to spend long weekend with some of Jonathan’s family. This year we joined with Richard, Janice, and Tim’s family to camp and met up with Elizabeth’s family for a day as well.

Jonathan came home from work a little early on Friday, then we headed north. We arrived at the campsite around 8:30pm. Richard had our tent ready for us so Jonathan just had to fill up our air mattresses and unroll our sleeping bags. This was the first time we camped that we didn’t have a pack-n-play for Charlotte. We weren’t sure how that would go, but it worked out great. The first night we found out that our air mattress had a hole in it when we woke up and it was almost flat, but thankfully we had an extra twin one along so we were able to rearrange things with the kids and we all had mattresses again.

On Saturday, we ate the crockpot egg casserole and skillet biscuits and gravy that Janice made for breakfast then got ready and headed to Juliette, Georgia to meet Elizabeth and family for lunch at the Whistle Stop Café.

Ben, Joshua, Sarah, and Rosemary

We got to meet the newest members of Elizabeth and Joe'l’s family, Nathaniel and Gabriel.

We took up the front half the the restaurant. There was a kids table and a (mostly) adult table.

Ben ordered a BLT (he even was the one who took this picture). He loved this sandwich. I’m pretty sure it ate almost all of it.

Jonathan held Nathaniel. And Nathaniel promptly fell asleep in his arms.

Charlotte chowed down on her grilled cheese. Jonathan and I had barbeque sandwiches and they had a quite a kick.

The exterior of the Whistle Stop Café, made famous in the movie Fried Green Tomatoes.

Jonathan and I ate there on our first camping trip after we were married.

March 2004

We even saw a few trains pass by while we were there.

From lunch, we headed to Jarrell Plantation. With thirteen kids between us, it was like going on a field trip.

He really wanted to pose with the insect repellant.

Charlotte really liked hanging out with Uncle Tim.

And Rosemary was beyond thrilled to get to hold Gabriel.

Our time at Jarrell was eventful. In addition to touring the grounds and buildings, at least one person in our group either was stung by hornets, poured red Fanta all over the front steps, or threw up. It was a memorable visit. :-) And I think most everyone had a good time.

From there, we headed back to the campground for a hot dog dinner. The next morning, Janice made Bananas Foster French Toast for Michelle’s birthday then we headed out to hike at High Falls.

Sweet sisters.

The two little ones were excellent hikers too.

After the hike, we grabbed a bite to eat at Subway then Jonathan dropped Charlotte and me off at the campsite so she could nap. He took Rosemary and Ben to Indian Springs State Park to swim with Tim and Michelle’s family. While Charlotte and I were at the campsite, a thunderstorm rolled through and Charlotte never actually fell asleep. A few hours later, Jonathan came back and picked us up to go to Dauset Trails Nature Center.

When we got back to the campground that night, Michelle, Tim, and Matthew made barbeque chicken for dinner.

The next morning we loaded up and all headed out. We didn’t leave until around lunchtime, so we stopped with Janice and Richard for some delicious Mexican food to celebrate Jonathan’s birthday a few days early. We stopped again for dinner together at Cracker Barrel before getting home later that night.