Eclipse

We were in the path of the total eclipse. We ordered our glasses long ago and enjoyed watching it from home.

 I even painted a few rocks and placed them in the community to commemorate the occasion.

My phone tood strange pictures. The sun looks full but the reflection shows what state the eclipse was in.

The shadows got interesting and slowly it got darker. At one point our street lights came on.

I took just a few minutes to go from a strange light to pretty dark. Shortly after this picture the eclipse went total and we were able to look at it for a brief period of time.

Very quickly it went to a bright day again.

I did one more painting and went to the grocery store because we were critically low on milk.

I must say that it was a really neat event. It really showed the power of the sun. My kids didn't understand why how the moon could cover the sun since the moon is smaller. We did a few pictures to show them the perspective.

Curious, who was in the path and who wasn't? If you weren't in the path in the United States, what did you see?

Little Ones Water Time

Since I have once again found my water camera I took it in the pool with the little ones.

Benjamin is swimming real well now. However, I do stay in the deep end when he goes to the deep end in case he has a problem.

They both LOVE the slide.

Tasha tried showing the kids how to dive but we pretty much got belly flops.

His freckles have really come in this hear. His red hair is coming back too.

Vaida worked a little more on putting her face in the water. Next summer I expect she will start to swim as well. She tries to keep up with Benjamin.

When Benjamin got tired he went and got his life vest by himself.

Next weekend I hope the weather is good and I can get all the kids into the pool.  It feels like summer is starting to come to an end, I am not quite ready.

Back to School

Kids started back to school on the 17th.

This year I have kids in the 8th, 7th, 6th, 4th and kindergarten.

Apparently her backpack smells good.

Middle schoolers

Elementary schoolers

Larissa was pretty anxious about starting middle school, all the other kids were pretty excited. Coming home Larissa was the only one who wasn't happy with school. I told her that she would get used to changing classes and it would be fine. The second day she came home in a much better mood and said that she liked school. 

I really need to get my foster kid into a 4K program but I still don't have a birth certificate. Benjamin is enrolled in a 3K program that starts after Labor. I am not ready for that but he wants to go. It is only 3 hours a day so I should be OK.

Anyone else start school yet?

Quick Trip

We planned a short trip for Sarah's return and back to school celebration. My husband had to go to Atlanta so we decided to go to the Great Wolf Lodge. Some behaviors and issues meant that we changed up who went. We took Joselin and Vaida while Tasha stayed at the house and babysat everyone else.

We have never stayed here before and I had heard mixed reviews. We got a large room with a seperate bedroom with a total of three beds and a fold out sofa and 2 bathrooms. The space worked great for us.

My wolf cubs

Storytime

We only stayed one night. Larissa and I chose to color while the little ones fell asleep.

We rented a caban so everyone had a meeting point. It included a fridge with sodas and has a TV and fan. It worked great for our group.

Benjamin took me by the hand and wanted to play in the wave pool.

He loved the waves....pure joy.

He has no fear, I have been afraid to take him to the beach because I know it will be a battle keeping him close. I am terrified of him going under and not being able to find him. This worked great for us as he got to play in the waves and I could see him. It was also indoors which as the mom of a red head I loved. We had a great time, I can see us doing another short trip. We only stayed one night but signed in early the first day and left late the next day. They said you could stay as late as 8 pm but the kids had school the next day so we left at 3.