A Snow Storm in November?

Today, I was awakened by the gentle melody of the telephone letting me know that someone thought it important to share information at 6:00 AM. I glanced at caller id to see who was going to make an early exit from the christmas gift list, and found that it was a computer. The county schools automated dialing to be exact. Perhaps they wanted to let us know that Camdyn's standardized testing was going well and wanted to remind us that she should be sent out with a hearty breakfast and a can do attitude for the last day.

Never in my wildest dreams did I think they were calling to announce a two hour delay due to snowy conditions. Snow... in North Carolina... in November... impossible. So, I sprang from the bed to see what was the matter. Away to the window I flew like a flash, tore open the shutters and threw up the sash. And yes there in the yard, I saw it. What Northerners refer to as "a light dusting" was again plaguing us and throwing the region into chaos with cancellations and delays.

As you can see the conditions were pretty treacherous.

As a responsible parent, I already had an action plan to deal with this situation. I woke-up Camdyn to let her know she could sleep in.

Yes, she too didn't understand the logic behind this, and so we shared a moment trying to make sense of the illogical decisions being made today by folks that should be more intelligent.

Fall Leaves

Today most of the leaves have fallen from our trees and when I went out to take care of them, Camdyn eagerly wanted to help pile them. She worked diligently using mostly her hands to collect a bundle of leaves at a time and add them to the pile. Her goal was to make a pile larger than the one she has seen on the way to school. Around here, the residents pile their leaves along the road and the city comes by in trucks that suck them up and haul them away. While the leaves wait, this creates a condition along the neighborhood roads similar to snow banks after plowing. Here in North Carolina, its the closest thing we have to snow banks along the roads, and just as annoying to drive through. Anyway, in short order, her pile was made and a picture taken of her accomplishment.

She performed the ceremonial dive.

And then was joined by her sisters for a group dive.

Once they were done I prepared to mulch the leaf pile, but Camdyn did not want this to happen and made her stand.

However, she soon saw that the mulching was inevitable, even without the need to sing "The Circle of Life". She decided if she can't beat them, join them.

And so with this fall tradition behind us, it is almost time to move on to the next one. That's right, we are packing up and heading to sunny Florida for a week.

SciWorks

Nearby is a science center/children's museum called SciWorks. Camdyn has had a sleep over there with her Brownie troop and also attended a friend's birthday party that was held there. I've wanted to get back there because they also have traveling exhibits and the current one is about dinosaurs. The exhibit features animatronic dinoasaurs in various displays designed to educate and entertain.

The building is laid out over various levels, so some areas have an overlook. In this case we entered the room where we could see everything and then needed to walk down a ramp to see the exhibits close-up. Who would have guessed that everyone under the age of 30 in our group did not find the dinosaurs either educating or entertaining, but down right frightening. Keeghan could not bear the sight.

I'm sure it wasn't the teeth that bothered them, because they loved the next area that is all about the human body, and includes a giant set of teeth that they could play on.

I felt that they had already been traumatized enough so I didn't tell them about flossing or (shiver) gum disease.

Outside there is a nature walk with a tank of otters, a butterfly garden, and a farm area with cows, goats, sheep, and so on. This time, an outside stable had brought a pony to give rides for the kids. So Camdyn rode it.

Keeghan rode it.

And McKenna didn't.

Though she did ride the lift chair when we got back inside.

And I got to ride a Segway.

Marcey didn't ride the pony, the chair lift, or the Segway despite my urging. Nor did she even want to take a spacewalk like Camdyn and I.

Maybe she wanted to ride the dinosaur?

ThreeWitched

Halloween this year had a change of venue since we traveled to Indiana at the end of the month. The girls enjoyed hotel life, and especially the luggage cart.

There we participated in Trunk-or-Treat. A variation of going door to door where participants instead go from car to car in a parking lot. In this case, an event hosted by a church that offered treats, games, and dinner.

Here is a group photo of the kids in Marcey's extended family before they undertook the festivities:

And of course, here are close-ups of each of the girl's costumes from when they first tried them on:

I think we all had a really fun time made all the more special by spending it with family.