Anna Grows

Post-rafting The first girl scout trip of the season was a new adventure:  white water rafting.  Since the girls had a half day of school, the troop leader reserved an afternoon of white water rafting on the Potomac at Harper's Ferry, West Virginia - about an hour from school.  Theresa was one of the brave parents that agreed to chaperone this adventure.  As luck would have, it was a picture perfect day for rafting:  sunny and 85 degrees! Pre-rafting girls scouts Several of the girls (and the troop leader for that matter) were a bit nervous about this adventure.  There was lots of safety gear involved including life jackets and helmets.  Fortunately  the lack of rain meant that the river was low and the rapids were small - perfect for beginner rafters.  There were 3 boats with a guide in each boat, which meant that the girls also needed to paddle.  Thanks to the calm water, there was plenty of opportunity to jump into the river...

Anna, Ellie & Anna preparing for cake Anna officially turned double digits on September 3!  After much deliberation, she decided to mark her 10th birthday with a karaoke sleepover with five of her friends.  We were also joined by former neighbor Anna who was recruited to help with the evening festivities.  It is safe to say that little sleep occurred, but a good time was had by all. It just so happened that Anna's birthday present this year was a karaoke machine (this took care of the entertainment for the party).  An additional piece of the gift was a series of "tween hits" cds to sing with.  Imagine six 10-year old girls belting out various Taylor Swift, Katy Perry, and Megan Trainer songs (among others).  That was a large portion of the evening.  The singing stopped when someone got the idea to climb the tree in the front yard.  At one point, five of six girls were at various locations in the tree.  They were willing to come down...

Anna officially began 5th grade on August 29th!  She is off to a great start and described her first day as "amazing."  There are lots of big changes for Anna this school year. First, Anna is officially "upstairs," which is where grades 5-8 have classes.  This means that she has her very own locker.  This was a major topic of discussion over the summer as she planned her locker decorations and was very concerned about whether she would get a top or bottom locker (she got a top locker).  She also practiced with her combination lock. Second, Anna has a slightly different uniform skirt this year.  While this is not a big deal to Anna, it was a big deal to her mom who quickly realized the smallest skirt was way too long and would require mom to alter it (if only we had planned ahead to get it to grandma).  Nothing strikes terror into Theresa like opening a sewing box, but the threat of sending her daughter to school in skirts that are way too long was ...