Los Flemings

Here comes Sam. These are the new car pool buddies headed off for the first day at Evergreen.

Monday we went for orientation and met his new teacher, Ms. Cathe, and her associate, Ms. Tonya. Sam was itching to go this morning, although he did tuck the collar of his nice shirt under and wanted to change into one of his 'more comfortable' t-shirts.

Two years ago we joined friends from UUFR for a camp out at Grayson Highlands State Park in VA. We returned this past weekend with two more campers in our van. Ford and Jack got to go on their first camping trip and did great.

We had some showers but otherwise pleasant weather. A highlight was that there were still plenty of wild blueberries for the picking. It was also great to catch up with friends from the Raleigh area.








Ford catches a nap in the tent.

Here we are in the early part of week 3 of Mame's return to work and feeling nostalgic for the days of maternity leave. The last week of Mame's leave we took up residence at Slick Rock in the blue cabin.





There was lots of swimming in the pond, lots of good food, hikes in Dupont...



















and rock sliding on the Little River.










Sam also got plenty of time to hang out with his little brothers. (notice the family resemblance? That's Jack on the right with the identical grin)

To cap off the first successful week of this new phase of our lives, we took a river trip Saturday on the mighty Tuckaseegee. Mame, Sam and I rented two duckies (inflatable kayaks) and dashed down the river so Dandy and Granddaddy Frank could meet us at the take-out with Ford and Jack (on the right in the picture). We started out with Mame in one and Sam and I in a double. Then we gave Sam a turn in the single and he didn't get out for the rest of the trip. One highlight was stopping to jump off one of the boulders on the bank.

We stuck around in Sylva for a delicious dinner with the grands and then returned home with the babies while Sam stayed on for some more adventures.

Overall, it was a good first week back for Mame. The twins and I were able to meet her on two days for her lunch break, one day she was out before 2:00 and on Thursday she had the day off. We also got help from Dandy on Wednesday that allowed me to get caught up on some chores. In the midst of it all Sam spent the week in the Little Mountaineers camp at the NC Arboretum and had a good time tromping around the in the woods.

To top it off we had a visit on Wednesday night from Mame's nursing school buddy, Liza, her brother, and her son Gabe. Sam was excited to have a fellow tiger rider and the first little person to share his bunk bed.

Today, with much reluctance, Mame returned to work. And Ben, with much nervousness, took on my two new charges under my current job title, P-POD (Primary Parent On Duty). The good news is that Mame's day went smoothly (everybody woke back up) and our house is still standing. Sam made it to camp at the Arboretum on time, Ford and Jack stayed nourished and all my hair was still in place when Mame returned home.

On to day two.