Back to School

This year brought a first for all of us. Back to school for everyone in the family! Tony started his eighth year at the Child Study Center, which means we've been in TX for eight years now, wow! (and while we love it here, I must complain just a little bit...we are still in the middle of the hottest summer in 3o years). Matthew and I are attending school together two days a week, me as a pre-school teacher, and Matthew as a student in the 3 year old class. But, our biggest claim to fame this school year is our very own Kindergartener!!! Ellie started Kindergarten this year at a very small private school that is only one mile from our house. While she is not quite five, we really felt that she was ready to start school. She's reading, writing stories, and most of all, asking to go to school! I couldn't have found a better place for her, one mile from our house, with only eight kids in her class, and a teacher as sweet as pie. I am so happy she is there. In the few days leading up to the start of school I let her pick a few favorite things to do....


Ice cream and an indoor play place (she knows when it's too hot to play outside!). And of course we had to bring this guy with us...


Who is this kid? Where is his mother? Doesn't she know how to keep her kids clean?

The first day of school! So sweet in her uniform. Notice the patent leather mary janes, and white socks. How cute!!!



Proud Daddy!

There's that kid again! and if the picture were closer you'd see his breakfast all over his face, and the remains of yogurt on his shirt.

On our way into the building. It looks like the sun is just rising in this picture because...it is. She starts very early. Her hours are 7:30-2:30. Actually, this is really perfect for all of us. Tony takes her on his way to work, I pick her up on my way home from pre-school, and she's really at home with us for a nice chunk of the afternoon each day.



She is really loving her school. She is extremely tired when she comes home though. I do miss her, and have had several, "did we do the right thing?" moments in the past few days. I even crawled into bed with her while she slept last night. Yesterday, she cried when I picked her up because I was on time...she had wanted to sit outside with her teacher a little longer and wait for me. I guess that's a good sign, right?

The aftermath of a whole day in Kindergarten...




And here is the brother again. I just had to include this picture. Those are Ellie's stick on jewels. What to say? While the cat(sister) is away, with mice (little brother) will play....And yes, he was naked except for the jewels.

East Coast Tour - Part 3, Aunt Jill and Uncle Nabil and Sesame Place!!!

For the last leg of our East Coast Tour, we headed to Aunt Jill and Uncle Nabil's house in Princeton, NJ. They were great sports to have all three of us, in their beautiful and clean (and child free) house. Within seconds of arriving, both kids exploded their backpacks of toys all over the living room floor, left unflushed treats in the potties, and a path of little dusty foot prints all the way across their shiny hardwood floors. But, like a good Aunt and Uncle they just smiled through it all. Most of our short visit there was consumed by our visit to Sesame Place!! For those of you not tuned in to all things child-centered, Sesame Place is basically a Sesame Street Themed-Six Flags, for kids under 10. All rides and games, and shows are meant for young kids. There is nothing there they couldn't do!


We started them off small (and tame), on the Merry-Go-Round. It was a HUGE hit. When given a choice to pick their favorite thing to do one more time before leaving at the end of the day, they both chose the Merry-Go-Round again.


Next were the spinning tea-cups. Aunt Jill was smart enough to opt out of this one, and wave to us from the side. I came off of it, on the nauseous side. The kids, of course, loved it.


Matthew, the dare devil, loved the swings, while his sister white-knuckled it, but made it through.

The hot air balloon ride was more her style, gentle and calm. Now, I have to tell you all that the most traumatizing ride of all was.....The Lazy River....no joke. Ellie was NOT happy with that ride. Once you are on, you are on. There is no getting off halfway. She got hit with one of the waterfalls shortly after we got in the tubes, and she cried the entire rest of the ride. Poor Aunt Jill did her best to keep them against the wall and out of the way of oncoming waterfalls...wow, that was a traumatic ride. Looking back, I can understand. That water falls with quite a force, and for a child who doesn't quite understand that this is "fun", it can be kind of scary.



We saw shows with the "real" Sesame Street characters. Matthew touched the "real" Elmo and said, eyes wide,"I touched Elmo. He was...so soft". We saw a parade, sat on the "real" Sesame Street stoop, ate ice cream, climbed in Big Birds Nest, and on our way out, seconds after our last ride, Matthew passed out cold. My original thought had been that this would be a one time trip, perfect for their ages now, but in the car back to Princeton, they were already taking about "next time". What fun!