Simply put, a GREAT day!

There is no other way to say it -- today was fabulous! It was jammed pack with excitement that appealed to everyone in the family. In reality, the excitement started yesterday at dinner time when Eric and I revealed to Josie that we received a call from her principal informing us that Josie was the classroom winner for the reading contest that had been held over the last couple weeks. As a reward, she would get to ride in the homecoming parade today. Josie worked SO very hard on reading over the past few weeks in hopes of winning this contest. When we told her she won (over ice cream as Baskin Robbins), she was so excited that she screamed a silent scream and about bounced out of her chair. She then got a far-away look in her eyes as she imagined how great today was going to be.

But see, that was only the beginning. Today was Grandparents Day at the school. Josie was under the impression that her grandparents wouldn't be able to attend -- only to be surprised by them arriving and tucking her into bed last night. Such excitement for a seven year old. Truly... I have no idea how she was able to fall asleep last night. But let me tell you, she flew out of bed this morning without any problems!!

So today, Mema and Papa went with Josie to school for a couple hours. While they were at school, Eric hung out with Norah while I ran errands. Unfortunately, this is when Norah learned a painful lesson about where Lucy the cat's patience ends. Apparently, it ends with a karate kick from a toddler. Eeks! Anyway...

The day continued on with family fun and classroom fun. We got to see Josie in the parade -- she was so very thrilled and all smiles. Following the parade, Eric and I helped to host the classroom fall party where treats and games brought the school day to a close. Phew! I gotta tell ya, from just that little time in the classroom, I saw first hand how smart those second graders are! Look out world... here they come!!

While Josie spent a fun-filled day at school, Norah played hard with her grandparents. They laughed, they chased, they built, they did it all. So much so that Norah passed out for a good 2.5 hour nap! Following nap time, we were off to a surprise trip to the pumpkin patch and then out to supper! The pumpkin patch was at the local apple orchard where we were the only ones around and dinner was back in town where we were lucky enough to beat the Homecoming rush by a good 30 minutes!

How much more can a person jam into a day? I am sure someone out there can do more with the 24 hours they are given each day, but today, today was a great day for the Moore family. Today we had good quality fun together, fun that spanned the ages, and fun that will not soon be forgotten. It is days like today when I am so thankful that we live in a small town. There is nothing like the fun of fall activities experienced in the intimacy of a rural setting. Do I miss my former big cities? Sure I do. But today, today, I am reminded just why I so value our life in Small Town, USA.