first day of school

My babies!  Off to school again!  I refuse to believe that they are as old as they are!  They were all ready to get back into the swing of things and Charlie is as eager as ever to start.  They were up bright and early, happy to get ready for their big day.  We primped and primed and prayed.  It was a great first morning.

I snapped away at them and hugged them goodbye over and over!  Charlie held his position of first in line.  The bus drove toward us and I hugged Charlie one last time.  I asked him if he was ready for this and he confidently told me, 'I think so.'  That made me cry!  The bus stopped, the doors opened, and he walked away without looking back!

And Emmy and I cried.  And Heidi!

I learned later that Ruby had walked Charlie to his class (per my prompting) but all on her own account, she held his hand!  And this went on for the first couple of weeks!  I love that my little guy still hugs and kisses me and allows for his sister to hold his hand in front of all of his peers!  What a tenderhearted boy I have!

The girls had great first days as well!  New friends and old friends!  Both have adjustments in homework-load but they don't mind!  When they run out of schoolwork, they make up more for themselves and play even more school!

I am so so proud of these kiddos of mine!

They never looked back!

hot air balloon!

Justin and Mindy know a guy with a hot air balloon!  And they invited Jordan and Charlie to go on a ride!!  It was quite an experience!  The guys got to participate in setting it up, then they put Charlie and Aria in it.  Aria decided not to go and the pilot made sure that Charlie knew that they couldn't just drop him off if he didn't like it anymore!  It was loud!  But Charlie quietly acknowledged that he still wanted to go!  And what a thrill!  They all loved it!  What an awesome experience!!

Wait... a waiver?!

Charlie had intended to throw out his paper airplane but forgot to!

The on-lookers followed the balloon, not knowing when and where it would land, exactly.  We made a quick stop at McDonalds for food and just like that, it was directly above our open sun-roof!  We could hear the guys and even make eye contact!  They were comin' down!  We raced out of there to follow them.  They landed behind Target.  And it was so quick, we missed it!  They had been heading in a different direction just before then! 

I have to say, I was relieved when they were back on the ground!  The girls and I were praying the whole time!  But Jordan said it was such a peaceful experience!  Once he got used to the idea of the basket being lower than waist level!

Charlie with his paper airplane that he forgot to throw!  Not sure he'll ever get the chance again!

And not to fold it up for next time!

The boys received a special 'Hot Air Balloon Flight' certificate....

And 'champagne'!!!