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What Is Your Kid's School Bus Driver Listening To?

Last night while traveling the 64 from Williamsburg to Richmond, in one of the worst rain storms imaginable, the kids and I were drowning out the sounds of rain by singing loudly to our favorite tunes. Hubby kept looking at his phone, bored from the "girl music" he attests. My eldest daughter mentioned that on the way home from school today, they heard this we were singing on the bus.

When she first mentioned they listened to music on the bus, I was a little shocked. I really never thought that school buses had radio's on them; I figured it a safety thing. Her bus driver likes the same type of music we do, she told me.

As she went on, she exclaimed that when she rode the bus home with a friend on the way to a sleepover, her driver "blares the music. She loves to listen to rap."

This got me thinking about other bus driver's and what they listen to. What are they jamming to as they get students to and from home to school and back? As a parent, we have a right to know about the education our children are getting at school but, have you ever thought about what is being played on the bus that transports them there?

I bet you haven't.

My Daughter Is Famous In Gatlinburg, Tennessee!

A couple of years ago my mom wanted to give the girls a different type of Christmas present, one that couldn't be unwrapped under the tree. So, she planned a week to Gatlinburg, Tennessee.

They did as any tourist would do, they beat the streets in search of something that sparked their eye. In a shopping center, in the heart of the town, they discovered a store where you could have your photo taken with celebrities. My oldest, Douglas had hers taken with Zac Efron, my middle, Sage, had her picture taken with Hannah Montana and the youngest, Ava Bird, was delighted to have hers with Dora the Explorer.

When they returned home, the T-shirts were such a hit, on the next trip back the following year, the decided to have their photo's taken again. In a way, a tradition had been born!

While Douglas posed for her photo the next year, Sage decided she would have here photo made with Selena Gomez this time. Ava revolted (as Ava would do) and would have nothing to do with having her picture made this go around. She was over Dora and not interested in the least about Miley Cyrus or any other Disney character. Tradition? She wanted candy!

Previously, we had been made aware that there was a possibility your photo could be chosen to use as advertising for the store. Not thinking much about it, we left on our merry way and enjoyed the rest of our trip.

Come this year, the tradition still alive into the present, we made our way through the streets of Downtown Gatlinburg to find our T-shirt store. With a stroller in tow, my husband and I were forced to wait on the elevator. The others pranced merrily up the stairs where on the second level the store resides.

After what seemed to be an hour, the slowest elevator in the history of man managed to free us from it's grasp and let us out. As we made our way towards the store, Sage comes running around the corner, grinning from ear to ear, shouting "Look! Look!"

There she was. Wearing the same thing she had worn a year ago, smiling with one less tooth for the world to see.

If only I could make some commission off of that T-Shirt!!

Gatlinburg, Tennessee

I took these pictures on a cold afternoon before I was to head home. The night before, a dusting of snow had fallen on the mountain. While larger accumulations were felt at the tops of the mountains, the valley below was met with an inch that melted away soon afterwards.

Isn't this a beautiful shot?