First Week of School!

Where does time go???  Summer has flown by!  ACCA started back to school this past Monday.  There was definitely excitement in the air.  The school moved just a few weeks ago, so everyone was anxious to see how it looked. I have to say it looks awesome!  I had helped with a little bit of the move-in one Friday afternoon, but there was still a long way to go then (3 weeks before school started!).  Of course, we were in Pennsylvania the week before school, so I wasn't up there much.  When Monday came, I was amazed at how fantastic everything looks.  You can see a lot of care went into putting everything together.  I am so proud to be part of ACCA!

 

Back to my original question of where does time go?  I can't believe Lily is now in First Grade, and Mia has started to Half-Day Pre-K!  Lily was very excited to start back to school.  On Sunday night, I tucked her in and said "sleep well."  She asked "Mommy, what if I don't sleep well?  I can't be late tomorrow.  It's when we go over all the rules."  Leave it to our sweet Lily to be concerned about missing the review of rules!  Mia was a little more anxious about starting to a new place.  Thankfully, she already knows a few of the kids (8 of the 11 kids are younger siblings of ACCA students!), but she didn't know her teacher (Mrs. Worrell is now a stay at home mommy).  I feel confident she will adjust quickly though.

 

On Monday morning, we all got up to eat breakfast together before getting ready to go.  Of course, we had to take some pictures before heading out.

 I love these precious girls!

 We walked Mia to her classroom first.  Ms. Messer showed her where to put her backpack and lunch box.  We gave Mia hugs, and then she sat down to start a puzzle.  She fit right in!

 We walked Lily up to her room where Mrs. Barbelescu gave her a big hug.  Lily found her desk, her cubby and her backpack hook.  She is very excited that she is sitting next to her friend, Emory.  We gave her hugs and headed out.

 Since it was a half-day, I stayed up at the school to work and set up my office.  I love being the school's financial administrator.  Not only do I enjoy using my skills to help the school, but I love just physically being there, seeing the kids, meeting the families and being involved.  This school has such a family feel to it, and I can't say enough good things about it!  When I met Mia after school, I asked if she had a good day.  She replied "No, not really.  A little boy keeps calling me "my-a" instead of "me-a!"  We talked about how his parents probably saw her name and told him that was how to say it, and I bet he will learn quickly the right way to say it.  Thankfully, on Tuesday, she happily announced he was saying it properly and therefore, she was having a great time.  Lily's first day was wonderful.  She thrives in school, so she was happy as could be to be there.

 

On Tuesday evening, we had our first PTF meeting of the year.  I love this particular meeting because we go to the classrooms, meet the teachers and learn more about what the kids will be doing this year.  Lily's class had already made these newspapers and put them up; they focus a lot on history this year, including their own personal history.  In case it's hard to see, here are a few things I love about Lily's newspaper: her drawing of being on the beam, the heart that says "I show other I care by...hugs" and the fact that her favorite animal is a peacock.

 Wednesday brought the first chapel service of the year, and I couldn't resist snapping a picture of them both in their chapel uniform; love it!

 Today (Friday) was Character Day for Kindergarten and up.  Each child picked a character from summer reading to dress up as.  Lily really wanted to be the mouse from Mouse Soup or the owl from Owl at Home.  However, I'm not the most creative person in the world, and all I could find this week was a fun little elephant hat and tail.  She was happy to be Uncle Elephant, and she looked pretty stinkin' cute, I think.  Most kids in her class had similar costumes (as far the ornateness) which was a big relief.  Some of the older kids though had some amazing costumes; I'm going to have to step up my game as they get older!  Mia's class did Color Day since they didn't have summer reading.  Mia said her favorite color was orange (this morning), so she wanted to wear this shirt.  I have to say, she's stinkin' cute too!  They had the middle schoolers come in during the day to help the make colorful capes and face paint.  It's been a fun day!

 By the end of the week today, both girls were talking about how great school is.  We are so blessed to be part of this amazing school!

Family Trip to PA, Part 7

On Friday morning, we actually slept in a little bit.  I think everyone was exhausted from all the fun!  I had to get ready and head quickly down to breakfast while Ryan and the girls got ready because I had a wonderful treat awaiting me: a cocoa bean polish treatment at Hershey Spa!  What a fantastic way to start the day.  I smelled a little like chocolate for the whole day; not in an obnoxious way, just a lovely light scent.  I would love the chance to go back and spend a whole day (or a few...) at this spa. 

 

I met everyone else back in our room afterwards, and we finished packing everything up.  We checked out of the hotel and decided to head back to Hershey Park for the morning since the tickets were included in our package.  When we walked in, this young man was showing off this black snake which is one of the things to see at the zoo.  The girls enjoyed watching it slither all around him.

 One more spin on the carousel was in order.

 The girls enjoyed some of their favorite rides again.  We rode the Music Express several times too; they couldn't get enough of it!

 We also made an appointment to meet Diego the sea lion which was really neat!

 Just before 1, we were all getting hungry and tired.  We decided to go back over to the World of Chocolate for another yummy meal.  The girls discovered this fun game where you "throw" kisses into the different slots.  They had fun with this.

Getting kisses by the Kisses.

Crazy candy in the gift shop.

 Finally, we decided to head out. We said goodbye to the kiss shaped lights and headed back to Michael and Jenn's house to spend our last night.

 On Saturday morning, we got up, returned the rental car and arrived at the airport.  We ate breakfast there, and then the girls were quite happy to play in the airport's playground (inside, right by the Delta gates - perfect!) for almost an hour until it was time to board.  We had a nice flight back, picked up our bags and headed home.  I think it's fair to say the girls were worn out!

Of course, all good things must come to an end at some point.  This was such a fantastic family vacation.  Ryan and I agree it was better than we could have expected.  The girls were simply awesome, the weather cooperated, the food and treats were yummy and we were able to just have fun together.  I love making memories like this, and I'm so grateful we took this trip!

Family Trip to PA, Part 6

As we left the park, we decided to head next door to Chocolate World.

 We got there just in time for the next showing of a 4D movie.  While we waited on it to start, we enjoyed being in the art gallery; these were some of our favorite pictures.  The host also asked questions to get audience participation.  He asked if any of the kids had ever won any awards.  Mia was beside herself as she tried to get his attention.  Thankfully, he walked over and let her say "Soccer and gymnastics."  She was so proud of herself!

 Ready for the movie.  They enjoyed helping the Hershey characters solve the mystery and figure out that it was Von Sour who was trying to sneak into the chocolate factory and ruin the chocolate.

 They also loved that they gave us a free mini Hershey bar upon exiting the theatre!  After the movie, we headed into the food court where we relaxed and enjoyed dinner.  When that was over, it was time to head upstairs to make our own chocolate bars!

 Since you're entering a food processing area, you have to wear the appropriate gear.

 You first decide what type of chocolate bar you want, and then you get to pick three fillings.  The options included things like sprinkles, chocolate chips, butterscotch toffee filings, coconut and almonds.  After you make your selections, you go through the line where (thanks to some awesome technology), you get to watch the machines prepare your personal candy bar.

 After the fillings are put in, you see the bars get a chocolate bath.

 After the bath, while the chocolate is going through the cooling process, it's time to design your own box cover.

 The production screen shows you exactly when your bar is coming out of the cooler and will be ready to put into your box.

 Seeing the bars put into the box is pretty cool.

 The workers wrap them up at the end and verifies you're picking up the right bar.  This was so cool to do!

 Our boxes.

 After making our bars, we headed back downstairs where the girls learned how kisses get boxed up.  Here they are shaking their containers to fill the spaces.

 We took a "quick" spin through the gift shop and decided it was time to head on back to the hotel.  The girls couldn't wait to try a few bites of their bars when we got back!  We all agreed they were delicious!

This was such a fun day!



Family Trip to PA, Part 5

On Wednesday morning, we enjoyed a delicious buffet at the hotel.  The hot chocolate was wonderful!  As we walked out from breakfast, there was man holding and talking about falcons which was pretty cool to see.  As we started to walk away, who should walk into the restaurant lobby but Reece!  It was fun to meet a character; what a great way to get us in the mood for Hershey Park!

 We arrived at the park right as it opened.

 We decided to head to the back of the park and make our way forward.  Well, there was just too much fun to stuff to do on the way to the back!  We all loved the Boardwalk / Amusement Park feel here.  There were tons of great rides for the girls.  The loved this little ladybug roller coaster.

 Not too surprising, they both loved the swings too.  Look at the face of pure joy on Mia!

 Fun on the ferris wheel!

 A lovely view from the top.

 A scenic shot and then the girls walked a few steps over where they were very excited to see the big log flume splash.

 Ready to ride the carousel!

We made lots of new friends on this trip!

 The girls enjoyed driving their own rides.

 Loving the hot air balloon ride.

Ready to motorcycle around.

 They LOVED this fishing game.  Inside each fish was a little chip, and you got a different size stuffed fish depending on what color chip you found.

 Very excited about their prizes.

 The kids' adventure rides.  It cracked us up to see them hold their hands up on the mini pirate ship; they were so brave!  They made a new friend as they spun themselves dizzy on the little teacup-like ride.

 Mia said the Frog Hopper was one of her favorite rides.  It was just like Blast Off at Sesame Place.  She loved how it bounced everyone up and down.

 Flying around.

 Mia and I raced Lily down the Fun Slide.  It's not exactly the fast potato sack slide I remembered from the fair growing up, but we gave it our best...Lily won!

 Mia and I rode the Flying Eagles.  She loved controlling us and making us go side to side and up and down.

 Mia got a kick out of this Spiderman hat.

 The girls enjoyed flying us around in the starships.

This is a Google image of the girls' very favorite ride: Music Express.  It's an old amusement park / fair ride, and they couldn't get enough of it.  We rode it multiple times in a row as there was little line.  By the end, they were getting very brave and holding their hands up as we spun in a big circle and rode up and down on the track.  It was awesome to see the sheer happiness and excitement on their faces!

 We all had a great time watching the seal and sea lion show.  They were so cute and did lots of fun tricks for us!

These are really just the highlights of the fun we had at the park.  It was overcast but there was no humidity, so it was great to be out and walking around.  We rode lots of other rides too like the monorail, ski lift, chocolate versus peanut butter laser ride and many additional kids' rides.  I just narrowed down the pictures a lot!  By this point, it was coming up on 6PM, and everyone was getting tired and hungry, so we decided to head out of the park for the evening.