lions and tigers and (momma)bears ~ oh my!

... or in our case ... earthquakes and hurricanes and back-to-school - oh my!  would you believe that at the moment i snapped this photo of the girls peeking their heads at the edge of the pool in west virginia ...

... there was an earthquake that came a-rumbling?!  the girls, being in the pool, didn't feel a thing - nor did i in all honesty.  but my mother, who was sitting behind me as i took the photo, felt it ... she thought her chair might be on a loose stone and tried to adjust it.  i joked that it was just she herself who was getting unsteady.  turns out she had felt the earthquake that originated outside of Washington DC ...

... crazy, right?!  and just a few days later, we drove home to Massahcusetts only to greet Hurricane Irene - which, for those of us on the coast, was nothing more than a blowy rainstorm (unlike many inland areas stretching from PA all the way to up to VT - unbelievable flooding and damage in those areas!).  and for little ladybug, what better way to greet a hurricane than with cookies ...

... in case you're wondering what the design concept is on the bottom row of cookies - think "weather channel" - got it yet?!  the colored icing represents the doppler radar snapshot for Irene and the grey frosting represents regular ole' satellite view from space.  clever little ladybug, isn't she?!  eventually the skies dried out as Irene moved off into the yonder, but it didn't stop the inevitable from happening ... the first day of school was on its way and our back door went from looking like this ...

the all-important life vests and a sack full of sunscreen, towels, and spending money ... ah, summer is such bliss!

to this ...

uh oh

thank goodness we still had enough time to squeeze in one last family dinner down by the harbor to celebrate another glorious summer gone by:

... and then it was time to make the switch official - the painful switch from those lazy summer days to the days of early morning routines, school-day structure, and late nights filled with schoolwork ... 

i must warn you that the obligatory first day of school photo is not a great one - not at all.  for the 2nd year in a row, it poured rain on the first (and second and third) day of school - forcing an early morning photo in the near dark with a pocket camera ...

... but no matter how blurred the photo, one thing is very clear: my ladybugs are off and running ... all on their own.  7th grade and 5th grade.  and boy are they ever off to a great start - such big and capable girls now - all you have to do is look at them to see.  and this momma-bear is just so SO proud.

♥