Halloween fun

I have always been a "home made birthday cake, homemade Halloween costume" mom. This year I just couldn't think about costumes during the hurrication. Instead, Caroline and Mimi started looking online and found an adorable Madeline costume (In an old house in Paris covered with vines lived 12 little girls in two straight lines, the littlest one was Madeline). So, I granted a waiver for this year and Mimi ordered it. As Halloween drew closer, we realized that it would not be much fun at home since it was not safe to walk the streets (nails and broken glass everywhere) and there weren't many kids in town to have a party with. So, we went to Port Aransas for the weekend.

Caroline was in a parade at school (this is her teacher) and then we hopped in the car and drove south. We made an appearance at the elementary school carnival where Caroline's PA friends were excited to see her (I called ahead and her teacher spread the word that she would be in town). Then we went to the Smith's neighborhood to trick or treat. Caroline and Tres were very brave as they walked up and down streets filled with scary teenagers ("Miss Amy, is that a real knife sticking out of his head?") and spooky decorations ("We will be safe if we hold hands and go together Tres."). All in all it was a great night and great family fun.

Lime Bowling

Caroline and Tres (Hunter's friend Randy's son) were playing in Port Aransas this past weekend. They helped me pick Key limes from Duncan's "orchard" then noticed some limes on the ground under the tree. They were kicking them around and one rolled down the driveway. They looked at each other and then threw a couple more. Pretty soon they were bowling with their limes and measuring who could roll one the furthest. Who knew limes could be such fun without a crust or tequila?

Bee Suits

We were driving home from dinner on the sea wall when Caroline went into this long story about "Bee suits" and what they are used for and why they have hoods. We let her talk and occasionally answered her questions, all the while wondering where this topic of conversation came from. The next day driving to school we saw some people in full haz-mat gear walking out of a building. Caroline pointed to them and asked where they were finding honey. Perhaps they will find something sweet while helping to restore the island.

Back to Trinity

Caroline started back at Trinity on October 20. Seven of the original 19 kids came back. Their classroom was destroyed in the storm so they moved into the preschool building across the street while repairs continue in the main building. This building also had damage, but they were able to gut it and start over. Her classroom has very few "schooly" things like manipulatives, puzzles and centers, but it has 7 kids and 2 teachers (both Kindergarten teachers are in the room with them) who are excited to be together. They spent the first week back just getting to know one another again and discussing the storm. The topic at lunch usually turns to "Where do you live now?" and "How broken is your house?" It will be a long road back, but we have started the journey.

Thank You Port Aransas

The week we came home from Port Aransas we placed an ad in the local paper thanking all those that had helped us during our "Hurrication." After some deliberation and lots of retakes, we took this picture next to the 1900 Great Storm memorial for the ad. It was comforting during the storm to see this statue behind the reporters.