Boosterthon Fun Run

Em's school had a Boosterthon Fun Run in early September--the kids all raised money for the laps they were planning to run.  It was a really humid morning when we got out there, but the kids didn't seem bothered at all.  Here are a few pictures of the run.

 Em is in the gray shorts on the far right of this picture.

 They were encouraged to stop and take a water break every five laps or so.

Em ran the maximum number of laps (35)!  Based on the marks on her shirt, I think it was more like 40, but they stop counting after 35.

 Super proud of this big girl!

I walked her back to her class, and then left to get to work shortly after that.  Next year, I'll probably take the day off after the run so Em can just come home with me--she was really exhausted that night, and I don't blame her at all.

Labor Day in Wilmington

We decided to spend Labor Day weekend in Wilmington with Jason and Jenn--Julie flew into Charlotte and rode with us on Friday afternoon.  The timing worked out well since her flight was landing about the same time that Em got out of school.  It was getting late by the time we made it there that night, but the kids were so excited to see each other they took advantage of a little play time.

The next morning, they got started early and played all day.

They really had a great time together, and it gave us time to relax and hang out too.

It's nice when they play so hard they're ready for baths, movies, popcorn and bedtime pretty early.

Jason and Mick bought some seafood, and we boiled it out in the garage for dinner.

It was nice to have the time together, especially after the kids were in bed!

On Sunday, we decided to spend some time at the beach, even though it was really cloudy.

We took the ferry across to Oak Island, which was almost as great as the beach for these three!

It stayed overcast all day, but it was still warm enough to get in the water and build sandcastles.

On the ferry ride back, the kids were super excited to feed the seagulls with some bread Jenn brought from home.

A rare family pic!

These three got along great the whole weekend, and really made us wish we lived closer.

Here are a couple of my favorites from the beach!

After dinner and baths when we got home that night, they snuggled up in Jason and Jenn's bed and watched a movie together.

It's nice to be with family when you don't feel obligated to constantly be doing something or going somewhere.  We had a nice mix of both over the weekend, and we wished we'd had more time!

Glasses

Em's glasses arrived, and she was very excited to try them on.  She loves the cases, and loves the responsibility of keeping up with them.  This is one pair--she picked them out to be her spares, but has ended up wanting to wear them more.

I also found glasses for her baby Rose so they could match.

She put them to the test immediately by checking out a Halloween costume catalog.

This is the other pair--I think I like these better because of the thinner rim, but as long as she's wearing them I don't really have a preference.  They seem to make her even more grown up looking!

A Visit to the Eye Doctor

At Em's 5-year checkup back in May, her doctor recommended we follow up with an optometrist because one of Em's eyes didn't seem to see as clearly as the other.  She always seems to see fine and never complains of any trouble or acts like she has a hard time, so we didn't follow up (no judgment, please!).  After she started kindergarten, they did a vision and hearing test and suggested an optometrist visit for her...so we decided maybe there was something to it.

My friend Tracy from my book club is an optometrist with her own practice, and comes highly recommended, both by our friends and by other patients. I made an appointment for Em and Mick met us there the afternoon of her visit.

Em did great--she thought it was all a game and loved all the tests!  It turns out she does have astigmatism, and her right eye isn't as strong as her left (it's about 20/40 vs. 20/20).  Tracy said there was a chance that it could become lazy if we didn't do something to correct it.

She recommended glasses for Em, but said she also expected to see improvement over the next 3 months as she wears her glasses.  Em is excited about glasses now, and had no trouble picking out the ones she wanted! They'll arrive in about a week.

More From August

The end of the week before Em started kindergarten full time, Rainbow Station was closed for two days and I took the Thursday-Friday off so we could have some girl time before school started. We had a great time--a couple of highlights were pedicures and lunch at Salsarita's (one of Em's favorite places).

We seem to be unable to have a day off without a trip to Target, and Em decided to bring her baby with her.

We have a friend who works at a local radio station and hooked us up with free tickets to the Charlotte Knights baseball game on Thursday night--the new stadium is in uptown Charlotte and is really nice.  Em and I went up after lunch to pick up our tickets, and met Homer the Dragon! 

That night, we headed back to the game and hoped that the rain would hold off.  The sponsors who gave us the tickets also handed out these visors that Em loved.

It looked like it was going to be beautiful weather when we got to our seats,

but pretty quickly we knew it wasn't.  After a significant rain delay, we left and assumed the game was cancelled.

On Friday, Mick took half a day off and we went to Concord to Great Wolf Lodge.  It's only half an hour from here, but staying in a hotel still makes it seem like a mini vacation.

We all got wolf ears when we checked in, and Em was super excited about the bunk beds in her wolf den in our room!

We only stayed one night, but you have access to the resort and water park both the day you check in and out. 

It was great weather, but there's so much inside we didn't make it to the outdoor pool until Saturday!

Em loved the characters, story times, dance parties and other kids' activities.

Here's her wolf howl!

She had to have her face painted like a wolf.

By the time we left Saturday afternoon, we were all tired and glad it was only a 30-minute ride home. Definitely a great little getaway that's super close to home!

KINDERGARTEN!

Em's new elementary school does staggered entry for kindergartners, which means they have small groups start each day of the first week and only go on that day so the teacher has more individual time with each student and the kids aren't so overwhelmed.  We got a letter the week before school started to let us know her teacher assignment and what day/time our orientation was.  We went in the week before school started for a teacher introduction and tour of the school.  Em was so very excited that morning!

Mick had already gone in to work that morning, so he met us there.  Em was proud that she could show us around the school after her tour!

This is the doorway to her classroom from the kindergarten hallway.  Her school, Harrisburg Elementary, was just built in 2014 and this is only the second year it's been open, so everything is still shiny and new.  The parents had time with the teachers (Mrs. Cole and Mrs. Wright) and went over handbooks and expectations while the kids toured the school.

Em's actual staggered first day was on August 18.  The school does have a dress code, which Em is excited about for now, but we'll see how long that lasts! She was at least cooperative enough to strike a few poses for my pictures.

I think this one is my favorite--she just looks so grown up!

This was after we got to school--we were able to park and walk her in for the first day, which was nice for all of us.

She remembered right where her classroom was without hesitation, and was quite happy to carry in her empty backpack and matching (full) lunchbox.

And this is her classroom!  They wore name tags the first day (probably so the teachers could learn their names).

They start at 7:15 each morning and get out at 2:00.  Rainbow Station, Em's preschool, also has a separate building ("The Village") where they hold an after school program and they have a bus that picks up at Harrisburg.  Because her preschool was in Charlotte and we're just across the SC border, she's not in kindergarten with any of her old friends, so we really like that she still sees a lot of them in the afternoons.  She will have a good 2 hours or so at Rainbow Station in the afternoons before I pick her up each day, and they give them a lot of choices about how to spend their time.  I like that she'll have some less structured play at the end of each day, and that she gets to be in control of what she does.  She came home the first day and said kindergarten was awesome and she loved it!