Camden went shag dancing with her mom and friends last Sunday. Here's the video:
Well, the summer is almost over. Andrea starts back to work next Wednesday for teacher work days and is happy to not have to grade summer reading projects all the way through December, thanks to a great decision by her academic facilitator. Camden starts fourth grade the following Wednesday, although she doesn't seem as eager to go back as in previous years. Tristan will go back to preschool on September 7th and will be joined by his cousin, Sam, this year. I have two more days left at Telware and my fall class begins on August 23rd. I am taking Reading in the Content Areas and will probably do some observations in a local high school.
Last weekend, we went on a camping trip with the Spurlock family. We stayed two nights at Smokemont campground in the Great Smokey Mountains National Park just a few miles away from Cherokee, NC. Our campsite was right next to the Little River, which provided a perfect playing area for the kids. We rafted down the Oconaluftee River just north of Cherokee in two rafts we bought at Wal-Mart. However, it was quite a bumpy ride, with numerous shallow rocky areas that pierced holes in the floor sections on the rafts. Fortunately, the side sections of the rafts stayed inflated, allowing us to complete our trip. The ride proved a little too much for Tristan who was ready for his nap, so we let everyone out one-bridge-shy of our destination. Then, Scott and I went solo on our rafts for the last section of the trip and drove the cars back to pick up our families. Despite the difficulties everyone agreed that they had fun.
Back at the campsite, we enjoyed grilling chicken, hot dogs and sausages over the open fire and roasting marshmallows for s'mores. The kids all agreed that they did not want to go home.
Oh yeah, the weather was great: no rain, not too hot during the day, and not too cold at night.
Last weekend, we went on a camping trip with the Spurlock family. We stayed two nights at Smokemont campground in the Great Smokey Mountains National Park just a few miles away from Cherokee, NC. Our campsite was right next to the Little River, which provided a perfect playing area for the kids. We rafted down the Oconaluftee River just north of Cherokee in two rafts we bought at Wal-Mart. However, it was quite a bumpy ride, with numerous shallow rocky areas that pierced holes in the floor sections on the rafts. Fortunately, the side sections of the rafts stayed inflated, allowing us to complete our trip. The ride proved a little too much for Tristan who was ready for his nap, so we let everyone out one-bridge-shy of our destination. Then, Scott and I went solo on our rafts for the last section of the trip and drove the cars back to pick up our families. Despite the difficulties everyone agreed that they had fun.
Back at the campsite, we enjoyed grilling chicken, hot dogs and sausages over the open fire and roasting marshmallows for s'mores. The kids all agreed that they did not want to go home.
Oh yeah, the weather was great: no rain, not too hot during the day, and not too cold at night.
On Aug. 3, 2010, our neighborhood celebrated National Night Out. Justin is a Block Captain for the McCarron Neighborhood Watch committee, and he helped our neighbor, Scott Orlinski, organize the event. Last year, our neighborhood even won a city award for the best Neighborhood Watch in Charlotte because we had such a great turn-out and involvement in our National Night Out! The highlight of the night for the kids was getting to explore the inside of a police car and a fire truck. The firemen even suited up in a safety demonstration and let the kids run through water from the firehose!