The first day of school went really well for everyone! Landon only has 18 students this year, which he loves. Lauren LOVES Mr. Wilson, her teacher. She was particularly happy that he allows any food, gum or drink in his classroom, as long as it doesn't distract. I told her we should hook her up with a huge 44-ounce diet Pepsi and a bag of chips that she can plop down on her desk and eat throughout the day, just to see his reaction. Emma's first day of Junior High was potentially stressful, since they remodeled the old high school and turned it into the Jr. High and all 3 grades were new to the school this year. They hadn't finished in time to allow for tours or even a peek down the hallway, so she got to school completely unaware of where anything was. Luckily everyone was in the same situation and they herded the kids into the gym for an assembly, and oriented everyone. She seemed to have a good day.
I tried extra hard to be a good mom so I crimped Lauren's hair, flat-ironed Emma's hair, made 3 sack lunches, cooked ham and eggs for breakfast, dropped off Emma, went inside with Lauren, then spent the whole day on the phone with one hand, cooking and cleaning with the other because I had book group at 7:00 that night. I had gotten up at 4:00am due to a sad phone call from my mom letting me know that Nanny had died. It was a very full day. We all went to bed exhausted! But of course the most important thing is that the girls (and Landon) looked fantastic on their first day, as you can see from the pictures...
I took this picture of Emma on Sunday just before church...
How appropriate that she used to love butterflies? She has completely metamorphosed this summer, hasn't she?
I took this picture of Emma on Sunday just before church...
How appropriate that she used to love butterflies? She has completely metamorphosed this summer, hasn't she? 
And Emma's tomato plants have given birth...
And she went to a birthday party and got to decorate her own little cake...
Emma wants to know what she should wear on the first day of school, so if you have an opinion, she'd really like some input.
Yesterday we went with Nana (who got here Sunday for a visit) and the Bates to Island Park to float from Big Springs down to Mack's Inn. We rented river tubes and were shuttled up to Big Springs (which is where the Henry's Fork of the Snake River begins, I think), then we launched and floated 3 hours back to Mack's Inn. Nana waited for us there. There was a fair bit of drama right in the beginning with Lauren freaking out because she wasn't tied to anyone's tube and thought she'd float away, I guess. The water was a foot deep, but she screamed bloody murder, upended her tube and let it float away, lost her flip-flops and her water bottle, but held her Skittles high over her head to protect them. Landon yelled at her to catch her tube, but she just stood there screaming, so he ran after it and fell a couple of times and got scraped up pretty badly. Someone in a canoe rescued Lauren's flip-flops, but all and all, Lauren was very lucky she escaped without a beating by me or her dad. I didn't witness it, but right in the beginning Jenny also fell completely in the ice-cold water and so did Justin. Eventually, we all got organized. I tied my tube to Emma, Lauren, Caroline and Hilton so we'd stay together and we wouldn't have to continually rescue kids who can't steer their tubes. Landon stayed solo, and Jenny, Justin and Lorelai tied their tubes together. About 15-30 minutes into the experience, we were in the groove and had fun floating back together. We ate an early dinner/late lunch at Big Jud's in Ashton on the way home, then zoned out in our pajamas the rest of the evening. One of the best days of the summer! 
It only took 23 months and $3985 (not counting all the special floss, fluoride and Sonicare refills)! She's a beauty! 
We stopped at the Boise factory outlet stores for some brief browsing, bought some chocolate and some sunglasses for Landon and me, then hit the road for Rexburg. We pulled in to Rexburg around 6:00! We had such a fun trip! Hope we have enough cash to do it again next year!!! (After we got home we tallied up how much we spent on gas alone...drumroll...$531!! Yikes! We need a new vehicle for the next trip!)