Trip to Greenville

Before school started back we went to visit my parents in Greenville for a few days. We had a great time while we were there! Apparently I didn't take a lot of pictures...I was too busy relaxing and having fun!

The kids played outside a LOT! JP had fun playing with the golf clubs. The girls spent a lot of time running back and forth

in the yard. We went to the pool one day but it was a little chilly so the kids didn't last too long.

We were able to go visit our friends, the Sanders, while we were in Greenville. They have 4 kids as well (3 boys and a girl) and the kids had so much fun playing together and I enjoyed getting to catch up with Carissa. JP LOVED having lots of "boy" toys to play with...this car was one of his favorite toys!

Everyone loves to help Gran cook. JP enjoyed the salad spinner!

We went to visit Grandaddy at his office. He had snacks and toys...the kids think Grandaddy has a great job! (Also, the nice lady down the hall had m&ms...I think Ellie may have dropped off her resume before we left ;) )

Ellie was very interested in what Grandaddy was working on. (Also, if anyone has read the book The Circle, don't all the computer screens remind you of the book?)

Pistachios!

Checking out Grandaddy's Georgia stuff.

Playing with the toys!

We also went to the TCBY around the corner from Grandaddy's office so he came to join us. TCBY is a favorite of the kids!

The girls love to read Gran's books and even better when Gran reads them to you!


JP played hop on Grandaddy!


We were able to meet up with Uncle Blake and Aunt Emily in Easley. We enjoyed our Moes lunch with them!


And of course little puppy was SO glad to go visit Gran. He didn't miss any opportunities to snuggle! (This is a really funny picture if you know my mom...we had fish for about 6months and that was the only pet we were every allowed to have. She has a soft spot for Franklin.)

Back to School and Dance

Ellie 1st grade, Emmie 2nd grade

Today was the first day of school for Emmie and Ellie. Emmie was super excited to go back. Ellie was excited but also a bit nervous about a new teacher and a new classroom. Everyone got up and ready quickly and we were out the door in plenty of time to get to school early so I could walk them in.


Then there was a wreck. And our 15 minute trip to school turned into 30 minutes. Ugh. And Ellie was in the backseat upset that I might not have time to walk them into their class. Fortunately we made it just in time for me to take them to their class. Then poor Ellie skinned her knee on the way in. It was a rough start to the morning.
We dropped Emmie in her class real quick and she bounced right in, put her backpack up, and sat at her desk and started on her morning work.

Once Ellie walked into her classroom and got a hug and a bandaid from her teacher she was much happier. We hung up her backpack and got our hugs and she was set! She was really excited to be sitting next to one of her best friends from last year.

When I picked up the girls they were so excited. Everyone had a great day and made some new friends and loved catching up with their friends from last year.

Ruthie did ok with the big girls being gone although she was sad that she didn't get to go to school this morning. She did enjoy being "in charge" today. JP definitely missed the big girls and was a bit out of sorts all day. He kept asking where they were. I must say that when we got home and he and Ruthie went off to play it was sooo quiet in the house!

We went to Krispy Kreme for a special after school snack. They were all super excited about that. Ellie made sure to remind me when I dropped her off that morning that I had promised we'd go!


After Krispy Kreme we headed to dance. Ruthie had Creative Movement (tap and ballet), Ellie had ballet, and Emmie had ballet (she's also taking lyrical on Monday). This year is sooo much better than last year because we get done at 5:30 instead of 6 and we don't have any gaps in between classes. Last year we had 30 minutes where we were just sitting there waiting for the next class. Everyone loved their classes and were really excited to hang out with their friends!

JP loved all the props. Then he got mad bc he had glitter all over his hands. He was NOT pleased.

Evelyn, Emmie, and Emmie

Back to School Night

Wednesday night was Back to School Night for Emmie and Ellie. They were super excited to go and drop off their school supplies, see their friends, and of course visit with their teachers...new and old!

Emmie has the same teacher from last year and so this night was a breeze for her. Her teacher's bday was on Monday so all my kids made her a card and we got her a gift card and socks. So Emmie's teacher told the kids at Christmas last year that she really loved socks. So Emmie was insistent that we buy her some socks for her bday...and of course she picked the most outrageous pair in the store. I love it!


 Ellie didn't really know her 1st grade teacher so she was a little nervous. We found out ahead of time that Ellie's teacher loves owls so Ellie colored her a picture of an owl which her teacher just loved! We were also able to find out who is in the girls classes and Ellie was thrilled to find a few of her good friends from last year were in her class this year. Emmie pretty much already knew the kids who were going to be in her class.


We also took our annual bench picture with Evelyn. These girls have been together since preschool and I love our annual picture!




We are so excited about another great school year!

Pearl Fryar's Garden

Today Amy and I took the kids to Pearl Fryar's Topiary Garden in Bishopville.  (I highly encourage you to click on the link to read all about it...it's fascinating!)  So if  you go there are brochures in the mailbox on the right side of the driveway. We didn't see them until we were leaving but they have lots of information about the different things you see in the garden and it's really interesting!

The fishbone tree is considered his signature piece.

Emmie and Ellie's art teacher, Mrs. Henson, did a lesson on Pearl Fryar last year and then sent home a flyer about the garden. The kids have been wanting to go for so long and even though it was 9000 degrees with 200% humidity today we had a great time! I love that she instilled a love for ALL kinds of art in our kids...she really was the best art teacher and one of those people who is so genuinely loving! We are so sad that she's not back this year but she'll be selling her beautiful creations and teaching some workshops so follow her page on Facebook!

Emmie's topiary garden! (I should get mom of the year or something for actually knowing where this was!)

All the sculptures and fountains were also created by Pearl Fryar using scrap metal. This was one of my favorites! 

Peace, Love, and Goodwill carved into the grass.

Pearl Fryar hand placed every stone in the concrete.

Funny story...there was a man out cutting the grass and weed eating. I didn't think it was Pearl Fryar but the kids were just dying to ask so we sent Emmie to find out. He wasn't Pearl Fryar but he informed them that Pearl Fryar was at Waffle House. It took everything we had to talk those kiddos out of going to Waffle House to meet him! We figured the guy deserved to eat his waffles in peace!


If you're interested in going the garden is about 40 minutes from NE Columbia and the address is 145 Broad Acres Road, Bishopville, SC, 29010. There is no fee but donations are accepted (there is a mailbox on the right side of the driveway you can put your donations in).

The neighbors also have lovely yards!

Jumping into the Deep End

Ruthie has been getting braver and braver with her swimming and she's been improving by leaps and bounds over the last few weeks. (If you missed the blog post about the girls' swimming accomplishments this summer you can find it here.)Today she wanted to go off the diving board without a noodle. I told her she had to have a noodle. So she jumped in and "accidentally" dropped her noodle when she jumped in. Then instead of grabbing the noodle she simply swam to the side. So then I let her jump in without the noodle. She did SO well!

Summerville Trip

A few weeks ago we went to Summerville to spend a few days with GiGi and Papa. We were busy busy while we were there but had SO much fun!

We spent one day at the beach. The weather was great and the kids had so much fun playing in the sand and the ocean. We took a picnic and ate at the playground so they loved that as well!






The next day we went to the playground under the Mt. Pleasant bridge for a bit and then we went and rode the Water Taxi over to downtown Charleston. The kids LOVED the boat ride!




We ate lunch in Charleston and then we had about 45 minutes before the taxi came back to pick us up so we let the kids play in the fountain. They had the BEST time.






On our ride back across the harbor one of the taxi stops was at the Yorktown. The kids loved getting to see the Yorktown and some other boats and a submarine close up.




While we were there I also got to shop at the outlets and use some gift cards I'd been saving up and I went and had dinner with my friend Susan one evening. We ate at Xaio Bao Biscuit. I wasn't sure there would be much that I would like but we got a few different plates and it was all SO good! I highly recommend trying it out!