Before the Storm

I've been through hurricane warnings in Mexico, Texas and South Carolina. This has resulted in some interesting experiences, although I have never suffered personal catastrophe as a result. Regardless of the outcome, preparing for a hurricane is often a stressful and anxious experience. Without fail, I have been grateful for the teachings of my church that tell us to be prepared. I have never had to run out and buy supplies because we are always prepared for emergencies. That brings a great deal of peace.

As Florence headed towards the Carolinas, schools in our area were let out starting on Tuesday so that our busses could be used for evacuations and the schools could be used as shelters. Consequently, even though the weather was still lovely here in Columbia, school was out until further notice.

We stayed home on Tuesday so David and I could get some work done. It's kind of ironic that even though I spent the entire day working on school stuff, I won't be able to count that day as a make up day. (Yes, teachers will have to make up all these days we're missing whether students make them up or not.)

Wednesday, we decided to take the kids to the zoo. I love our zoo. We took our sweet friends the Allsups with us.

Seize the day!

I always love to look for this face-shaped stone. It's location moves from time to time.

The zoo is connected to a botanical garden with an awesome splash pad. We like to park on the garden side where parking is seldom crowded, do the zoo side, and then finish the day at the splash pad. One of the kids' favorite things to do is ride the tram between the garden and the zoo.

Because of the impending storm, they have been slowly opening the dam and lowering the lake, which raises the rivers. I have never seen the Saluda River so high. Usually this spot is filled with large rocks, pocking above the water.

 I love Spanish moss.

I also love all the history in South Carolina. These rock walls are the ruins of a bridge that used to span the river. In February 1865, Confederate troops burned down the covered bridge in an attempt to keep Sherman out of Columbia.

A new bridge now connects the two shores.

The explorer membership is a great deal and gives you free access to rock climbing, the merry go round, pony rides, train ride, feeding the giraffes and feeding the lorakeets.

Baylie came sooo close!!

Never too old for the carousel!

The howler monkeys were LOUD!! You can hear them all over the zoo. I took video, but it didn't download.

The tiger was out and about, which doesn't always happen, so we were glad to see him.

We hadn't seen the lion cubs yet, so we were excited to finally see them.

Next we headed to the pony rides. Baylie is too tall and can't ride them anymore. 

The llama was visibly concerned about the impending hurricane.

The goats just wanted to eat, as always.

Zebras also getting ready for Florence.

The kids were very excited to un into their former assistant principal, Mr. Scott.

Feeding the giraffes is one of my favorite things to do at the zoo.

The baby giraffe was already put away in preparation for the storm.

We don't often see a giraffe sitting down.

Mr. Elephant.

I don't know why, but I find the Galapagos tortoises fascinating.

King Julian.

and his subjects.

The golden tamarin is my favorite. I want one.

Kangaroos doing yoga to calm down before the storm.

Love the sea lions and spotted seal. 

Also love the otters.

The moved the train to a new spot so the ride is a little more fun now.

Second icee run (souvenir cups are worth the $2 refills).

The grizzlies are always a personal favorite. 

The baboons are not a favorite. It's something about that red bum.

Traditional orangutan statue photo.

Then we finished the day at the splash pad. Sunny and high 70's.

On the way home we ran into the evacuation traffic.

We've really enjoyed having time to hang out as a family, but I'm dreading finding out how/when we'll make up all these school days.

First Day of Fifth and Third Grade (and Spanish and Choir)

Since Hurricane Florence has left me with some time on my hands, I decided I should update our blog and post about the first day of school.

Baylie started 5th grade - her final year of elementary school, which completely freaks me out. She gets to be on the school news show, participate in the leadership group, help with the yearbook, is on safety patrol, is doing breakout club, singing in the performance choir (she chose that over strings), and is so busy she can't take Spanish.

Jalen started third grade, which is a huge jump since now he will get letter grades. He (like Baylie) is playing soccer and started piano lessons. 

David started his new job as the choir director at Ridge View High School. He is loving the job and his choirs are very talented. He is learning how different it is to work at a high school than at a college.

I started my new job as the Spanish teacher at Baylie and Jalen's school. I no longer have to travel between schools and I get to be with my kids. It's awesome!!

This is a picture of the kids in my new Spanish classroom. We are all super excited to be at the same school.

Because Baylie is in AGP, she has three different teachers. Mrs. Morvay is her homeroom teacher.

Mrs. McKay is her Science/Social Studies teacher.

Mrs. Buff is her ELA teacher. She was also her teacher last year and looped up. Baylie loves her so she was excited about that.

My classroom is just down the hall from Baylie's classrooms.

Jalen's teacher is Mrs. Turbeville. She is the perfect match for him and we are so grateful for him to work with her.

Back to school videos.