Last Week of August

I wasn't lucky. I deserved it. ~~Margaret Thatcher

Wow! Has this year flown by! It seems like it was just January yesterday. Where has 2007 gone?

School Update

Now, that Rachel and Anna have had almost a month in school, we've had some time to ascertain how things are going. So far, so good. They seem to be absorbing like sponges and it seems like they come home with something new each day. Our school uses a calendar sent home daily to communicate to the parents on things such as upcoming events and our child's behavior.

Rachel's calendar yesterday stated, "Rachel won our STAR STUDENT this month. There are some nice free things or coupons in the front pocket of the agenda for her." Last week she received recognition for doing the most sit ups in her class and this week she also received Student of the Week recognition in her Physical Education class. Rachel definitely wasn't lucky....she deserved it as she has worked very hard and we are so proud of her.

Anna's calendar comments from her teacher yesterday stated, "I am so glad she is in my class. She is a darling! I love her smile and intelligence." When Rachel does her homework, Anna sits with us and learns too. We are greatful that she too is doing well and we are very proud of her too.

It was a relief to see such positive feedback on both girls early on and to see them thriving so far. I do believe the investment in the pre-k program during the early years was well worth it as it gave both girls an excellent head start.

Friends

Jen, Mike, Ellis and Cooper left on Friday and Rachel was heartbroken immediately because she missed Ellis. She and Ellis are like peas and carrots. Our friends spent their evenings with us for part of the week last week. We appreciated them doing so as we really enjoyed their company and hate that they live so far away in Great Britain. We hope to plan a trip to visit with them in the U.K. at some point in the future. Now...if I can just figure out how to get Jeff on a plane.

Disney World

We left late Friday afternoon to drive to Orlando for the holiday weekend. Our annual passes expire in October so we wanted to get in two last trips before they expired. We went this past weekend and stayed at Fort Wilderness again. I have to admit that I love Fort Wilderness. When you get tired of the theme parks, you can spend the day at Fort Wilderness and not be bored. There is so much to do. And, I love the convenience of taking the boat to the Magic Kingdom from Fort Wilderness.
Our plan was to hit the parks early and retire early in the evening. We sort of did that on Saturday. We spent the day at the Magic Kingdom all day on Saturday. Anna is still not quite tall enough to ride Space Mountain so Jeff and Rachel rode that while Anna and I headed to Splash Mountain. It was Jeff and Rachel's lucky day as they were given Dream Fastpasses from Disney Cast Members when they got off of the Space Mountain Ride. If you've never heard of them, the Cast Members randomly pick people in the park and give these Fastpasses to them. Each Dream Fastpass has a Fastpass to the major attractions for that day that can be used at any time during the day. So, you can still use your park ticket to get regular Fastpasses and you have your Dream Fastpass that you can use any time. We were so excited as we have never received these before. Meanwhile, Anna was selected by Captain Jack Sparrow to be part of his show. She did a great job. And, later the girls were picked to be part of Woody's Round Up show. We were beginning to feel like maybe we should buy a lottery ticket since it seemed like everything seemed to be going our way.On Sunday, we chose to go to Epcot. We knew Soarin' gets pretty busy so we went there first to ride. And, lightning struck again for us! All four of us were selected by a Cast Member and given Dream Fastpasses for Epcot. We had never been selected in all of our visits and then we get picked twice in one weekend. We could not believe our good fortune. (Note to self: I have got to go buy that lottery ticket!) Actually, we weren't lucky....we deserved it too! We have all worked hard all year and we've certainly paid a lot of money to Mr. Disney for tickets and our various visits so we deserved to receive a little back! Thank you to the Disney Cast Members for making our weekend even more special. Now, can we talk about the overnight stay in Cinderella's castle that you are giving away? :-)

We ended up spending the entire day at Epcot and we had a blast. Both Rachel and Anna loved visiting the Kidcot stops in the different countries in the World Showcase. Neither Rachel, Anna or myself had seen the fireworks/light show (Illuminations) at Epcot before this past weekend and we actually stayed for that. It had been a long, hot day but we survived until 9 pm to watch Illuminations.
It was a perfect weekend at Disney. We could not have asked for anything better. We've been trying to decide if we'll renew our annual pass or not. Part of me thinks I'd rather spend that money on a cruise this coming year. Tough choices....not sure what we want to do just yet. But, we have one more trip planned in early October! We can't wait.