After talking about it all summer, Friday was finally Hannah's first day of school. There are approximately 4,000 preschools in our area, all with an application process and waitlist that rivaled getting into college, but we found one that was a perfect fit for our family. (and were thrilled to get off of the wait list in May)She is going 1 morning a week at a parent run co-op that is near our house and has a nice mix of diversity. Hannah has been VERY excited to start school. After all, she watches Abby Caddaby go to Flying Fairy School every day (for those of you who are not so up on Sesame Street, "Abby's Flying Fairy School" is a segment on Sesame Street, and usually Hannah's favorite part of the show) and she wanted her turn too.
How excited was she? She wore her backpack all morning in anticipation. Her panda lunch bag with her snack? Carried around for 45 minutes before we left.
Thankfully, school lived up to all the hype. So much that she didn't want to leave. Her recap of the day? "Potty. Hands. Soap. All Clean. Clean Up." To fill in some gaps, she went to the potty (first time...apparently seeing the other girls go made her want to go too...seriously...), got all clean when she washed her hands with soap, and then she helped clean up. She also explained to me that her panda bag had grapes, apple juice, and cheese in it. And then, after a celebratory lunch of Elmo soup, she took a 3 hour nap. What a great start to the school year.
First Day of School
A Summer of Memories
Today was the first day of Sunday School for me - after a summer of spending Sunday mornings in my pajamas, it was time to go back and greet a new group of sixth graders. And, just like the kids, lots of people stopped me to ask how my summer was and what we did. I had a great summer; REALLY great, actually. But I couldn't answer what we did. Because outside of the four days we spent in Wisconsin, we didn't really do anything at all. Yet, somehow, we managed to stay busy each and every day all summer long. We went to the pool. A lot. And to the new spray park. A LOT. And we took advantage of all of the free concerts and shows for kids that were spread out through the summer. We went to the Jammin' Beach Party at the library, danced with the area's top children's performers, and sat through what I can only describe as the worst puppet show I have ever since. (this, by the way, was one of Hannah's favorite things we did all summer - we saw it in June and she is STILL talking about the dog puppets) Sure, we also took our first family vacation - a quick trip to Wisconsin for Uncle Matthew & Auntie Emily's wedding and much fun with her cousins - and experienced an earthquake, hurricane, and flood all in the span of two weeks. But the lasting memories of the summer will be of kicking in the pool, the "coming water" (random fountains) at the spray park, learning to blow bubbles, and swinging like a monkey.
There are lots of changes coming here. Hannah starts preschool on Friday and with the pool closed (and our twice weekly Borders storytime sadly a thing of the past) we'll be looking for new activities to fill our days. Thank goodness we had enough fun all summer to keep us happy until summer comes again.
