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.

Beach Bums

I hadn't planned on going to the beach because I thought the Outer Banks would be our beach day. However, ever since the trip, the kids have reminded me that they didn't actually get to swim in the ocean. So when our good friends, the Shurtleffs, asked if anyone wanted to join them for a beach day, we jumped at the chance. It was a perfect day for the beach - warm, but not hot, just a slight wind, warm water.

The tide was very low and had left a huge tide pool full of starfish. Several of the starfish were stranded between the ocean and the tide pool. People were picking them up and putting them back in the water. It reminded me of the Parable of the Starfish.

One day, an old man was walking along a beach that was littered with thousands of starfish that had been washed ashore by the high tide. As he walked he came upon a young boy who was eagerly throwing the starfish back into the ocean, one by one.

Puzzled, the man looked at the boy and asked what he was doing. Without looking up from his task, the boy simply replied, “I’m saving these starfish, Sir”.

The old man chuckled aloud, “Son, there are thousands of starfish and only one of you. What difference can you make?”

The boy picked up a starfish, gently tossed it into the water and turning to the man, said, “I made a difference to that one!”

When we first got in the water, I spotted a few fins in the water. It freaked me out until I realized they were dolphins, not sharks. Then I realized there were several. It was pretty cool.

This kids had a blast boogie boarding.

 

The water in the tide pool was super warm, like a hot tub. The kids had fun playing in it. 

Somebody had started  a big sand tower surrounded by a mote. The kids spent a lot of time playing with that too.  

This picture shows a good view of the tide pool and the ocean. 

There is something so calming about being at the beach.

When we got to the beach, there were warning signs about jellyfish. They proved to be right! Two of our friends and Baylie all got stuck. Baylie's and the other little girl's were minor, but poor Michael got stung pretty badly. Notice the welts on his leg. It also turned bright red from the knee to the ankle. 

Despite the stings, it was a pretty perfect day. 

Road Trip Day 12 - Outer Banks

On the final day of our trip - Friday - we were once again blessed with amazing weather. Almost every day, rain had been forcast, but we only got sprinkled on a little bit. The only rain we really encountered was driving from Philadelphia to Colonial Williamsburg - and that was a good storm. 

Not only was there no rain during the trip, but it was cloudy so we didn't have much heat. It was humid, but not overly hot. We were really blessed that way.

Our final morning we started out at Kitty Hawk, site of the Wright brothers' historic flight. We got in free with Baylie's 4th Grade National Parks pass.

They have recreated the 1903 camp buildings where the brothers stayed during the three years they came to Kitty Hawk from July through September to work on their project. One house was for living and the other was an airplane hangar.

This was the starting point for the flights. They made four attempts before the plane was too damaged to continue.

The plane didn't have wheels, so they had to push it along this rail.

Looking from the flight path up to the monument erected in honor of the Wright brothers.

First flight marker.

Second flight marker.

Third flight marker.

Fourth flight marker.

It was rather symbolic to have  a flight landing while we were there. There is a small runway and pilot station.

The monument sits atop what was once a big sand dune. The Wright brothers tested a glider on this dune to practice how to maneuver in flight. Years later, grass was grown on the dune so it would be strong enough to support the monument.

Behind the hill there is a sculpture of the first flight. It is a replica of the plane and the people that witnessed the flight.

Pushing off.

Cheering them on.

Getting a photo.

Wilbur pushes off (Orville manned the flight).

From Kitty Hawk we headed to the Cape Hatteras light house. They are constructing a new road. It was fascinating to see. It's amazing to thing of building a road from the ocean floor.

Sand dunes (and Olaf).

Beach houses (they are huge!).

The roads were flooded in places from the rains. I met a woman whose family had been in The Outer Banks since Sunday and it was the first day they had seen the sun. Again, I realized we had been blessed with good weather.

I have a painted night light of the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse, but I had never seen it in person. It is the tallest brick lighthouse in the U.S. and the second tallest in the world.

David and the kids climbed the 257 steps to the top. I decided to sit this one out. My knee was pretty sore from all the walking we've done, plus I don't like heights and knew that it would be nauseating and nerve-wracking for me. You can see all the flooding from the top.

The lighthouse used to be located at the beach shown here, but because encroaching seas, it was moved. It was quite an undertaking.

The kids were exhausted by the climb,

but the view was worth it.

You can't tell, but that's David and the kids at the top.

Just looking at these pictures makes me nauseous so I'm glad I skipped the climb.

We made a stop at the Bodie Island Lighthouse, but didn't climb it.

After some souvenir shopping, we started the 6+ hour drive home. It was a long drive, but we were so happy to be back and be able to sleep in our own beds. I think my favorite part of the trip was spending 24-7 with my family for three weeks. I loved just being together. Another plus was listening to Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince in the car. It took us the whole trip, but we finished it. It also kept the kids off the iPad and sparked family conversations.

When we came home, we were surprised to see that the house across the street had been completely demolished. We knew it was going to happen, but to have it just be gone was a little shocking.