New School Year

K is officially a freshman. School has started and the first week was crazy. It took three days to get her schedule straight. The band director that she had for the two weeks of band camp had a heart attack the Friday after the camp ended, so she now has a new band director. The band marched in the Apple Festival Parade. They sounded pretty good considering how few members were in the band. But they were not the smallest band marching.

Rest of Vacation

On Friday, we decided to venture out to the Magic Kingdom. It was still raining, but according to the weather folks, it was suppose to clear up. We arrived around 11:00 and it did sprinkle off and on, but since most of the rides were indoors, it wasn't too bad. Sarah got to meet Minnie, Mickey, Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella and Jasmine. She ran up to Minnie & Mickey without hesitation. Kathryn took Sarah on Dumbo, Tea Cups and Merry-Go-Round. Sarah loved them so Eric took her on them a couple more times. Kathryn went on Space Mount and a couple of other rollercoasters. She and I went on the Grand Prix cars. Well, that proved to be interesting because just as we got to the front of the line, the skies opened up and it started to pour. I had a poncho on, but that didn't even help as it just channeled the water down into my pants. We were soaked!!! Needless to say, we decided it was time to leave. We were so wet and cold that we didn't want to stay 1 more hour to see the fireworks. I did say that I wanted a relaxing vacation, but I would have preferred one that allowed us to enjoy the pools instead of being indoors or wet for most of the time. Of course TS Fay did follow us home so we did finally get some rain in NC.

Breakfast with Elmo at Sea World

On Wednesday, August 20 Sarah had breakfast with Elmo and friends. At first she wasn't all that happy to see the big characters, but once Elmo took the stage she no longer was afraid. Even though it rained all day (and I mean rain - buckets) we enjoyed the shows and a couple of rides.

Florida

Well, we are in Florida at this time, enduring T.S. Fay. We are in Orlando (glad we're not at the beach), but it is still pretty strong - rain and wind. We are safe at the time in our resort, but we will need to leave tomorrow to go to the next hotel that we've reserved at WDW. It is suppose to continue with rain and wind tomorrow, but hopefully it will be much better. We are suppose to do a breakfast at Sea World with Elmo. Sarah is so excited. I'm not sure how much rain has fallen here, but the weather folks are calling for 3-10 inches. It appears by the radar that the heavier stuff is still to come. We were able to enjoy the pool yesterday, but no pictures yet. I had planned on doing them tomorrow through Friday when we visit Sea World and Disney for a day. Just keep prayers going for safety during the storm.

The School Schedule Starts

K started her two weeks marching band camp last week. According to K, the band is small as she started out as one of the two flute players, but another one arrived this week. She did mention that she switched to the piccolo today. So the band now has three pic players marching instead of flutes. She has already made some friends in the band and has a couple of boys trying to get her attention. I guess we will be in for some very interesting times. I can't believe that school will be starting in about a week and 1/2. No photos this time, but hopefully when the band starts marching at the games, I'll be snapping away. She is also scheduled to march in the Apple Festival parade on Labor Day. I'm sure SJ will like watching the parade this year.

A Reunion

Our adoption agency had a reunion and SJ loves to play with the brother of AG (a Xiushan sister) Adam. We had several of the girls play ring-around-the-rosie along with Hayne (AG's other brother).

A Visit with a Sister

Back on July 19th, SJ and I visited with another one of SJ's SWI sisters - Addie. She & her mom were here visiting other friends in the area. This was the first time that we saw them since they left China right after the swearing in ceremony. I could not believe how much Addie has grown and changed. The girls loved the swings and the sand box.