80 months

Summer quickly came to an end and we soaked up as much as we could the last week or so. We went to lunch and bowling with friends, the big kids bowled close to five games in two hours, they had a great time and were really into it.  J finally got her first strike, lucky for her we got it on video! She has been waiting all summer to get a strike and was so happy when she did, I taught her how to make the "X" with her arms, she thought she was hot stuff for a while after. By the end of the summer I think the girls were water logged from how much time we spent swimming, I'm surprised they hadn't shriveled up yet! When I asked if they wanted to go in the pool I didn't get the enthusiastic "yes" like I did at the beginning of the summer, instead I got a "well I guess", the only thing that kept them entertained was racing each other and playing red light green light with friends. I think it's time for a little hiatus, they worked hard leaning new skills this summer, and somewhere J learned how to "floss"! Daddy caught her doing it and I was finally able to convince her to let me video her. 

The Thursday before school started we went and met the teacher. The suspense of finding out was a painful wait and J was nervous about having a bunch of new kids in her class. When we got into the 1st grade hallway giant signs were posted with the class lists, as I read the names to J she didn't seem to know who most of the kids were, she was happy though that two boys and one girl from her kindergarten class were with her. We found her room, which was all decked out in a super hero theme, met her teacher, put her supplies in her cubbie and made our way through the stations that were set-up around the room. We found her seat (in the front of the room by the teacher) and she saw who she would be sitting with, no one she knew, but she said she thought she knew who the one boy was (she was wrong and it was someone else). J was excited to have her own desk (tables are for babies) and the fact that she got to keep her pencil box in it. I heard great things about her teacher and she seems super sweet, here is hoping it's going to be a super year!

How do you end summer vacation? None other than with a trip to Disney in the sweltering Florida heat! The Friday before school started we packed up the van (and with some friends too) and headed to Toy Story Land to check it out! It has been all the hype this summer since it opened and figured it would be the perfect way to end our summer (yeah us and everyone else, it was packed). We got there when the park opened, sprinted to the area and still had to wait over an hour to ride Slinky Dog. While I waited in line for the coaster, the kids went and met Jessie and Woody, the girls had never met them so they were excited. The line which was much shorter than the coaster actually took longer to get through, I guess because it was so hot the characters had to take lots of breaks. They all came running to meet me at the ride and when they got there we didn't have much time to decide how the six of us were going to ride, or much time for the seven year olds (we had to tell a little white fib that they were seven so they could ride alone) to process they had to ride together without their mommys! I thought J was totally going to freak out but she did great with A and was a big girl! The ride was AWESOME and everyone had fun, the girls even said they would go again! We rode the Toy Story ride and because our game broke down at the end we got to ride a second time which everyone was happy about! It was hot and we needed to cool off, so we did with the Disney Junior show and some AC, the kids had fun singing and dancing along to the songs. We saw the Muppets (more AC yay) and went on Toy Story one more time before we decided to call it a day at lunchtime, it was hot and there was a big rain storm moving in. We made it to the car just before it poured, stopped for some lunch and then headed home, I thought we would have lost the kids in the car but they all stayed awake for the ride home. It was a quick but fun morning with friends and worth the drive just to ride Slinky Dog. We can't wait to go back and take daddy!

The first day of school went off without a hitch! The night before we filled out the chalkboard, picked out her clothes and headed to bed at a decent hour, they got to stay up later than usual this summer! She was bright eyed and bushy tailed the next morning, got herself ready, ate a good breakfast, packed her stuff up and by 7:45 was ready to head out the door! We car lined to school (we biked home) and thank goodness we left when she wanted too, the car line was crazy and it took us over 20 minutes to get through it, someone was very nervous the entire time that she was going to be late the first day! She was happy to see me when I picked her up, they got 30 minutes added to their school day so not getting home until after 3:30pm makes for a long day! Daddy went out of town for work and C was at G&G's house so it was just us for the night. She told me a little about her day, took a bath (of course she had to put on a dress) and we headed for our dinner date to Cheesecake Factory to celebrate her first day. She insisted on sitting next to me and as we waited for our dinner we colored and she told me more about her day, it's easier to get bits and pieces than the whole story at once. She had a good first day but wasn't too fond of singing in music class! Her first two weeks went well, we've gotten into a routine of biking to school most morning but definitely bike home ever day to avoid the car line! J loves it when she is pink on the color chart (the highest color you can get), is working on more sight words in her fluency folder, is working to learn all her new friends names and has found friends to play with on the playground. There are 4 classes outside at once for recess so I'm sure 80+ kids is a little overwhelming at first! She still isn't fond of PE and continues to love STEM and art class. Her class splits and does their special with another class so she gets to see some of her old friends at special time each day. She has adjusted very well to her new routine and loves school, she is ready to head out the door each morning, sometimes at 7:30am she wants to go!

Aunt Boo and the kiddos came to visit for a few days, it was a last minute trip and J had no idea they were coming. At first she was upset that she had to go to school and the rest of the kids didn't but Aunt Boo made it up to her and brought her McDonalds AND a donut for lunch one day. After school she got to swim and play with them and loved helping and playing with her baby cousin, she was much more comfortable holding her this time around. It was a great last minute visit and B didn't want to go home!

Someone has been wanting to help with the dishes lately, now if I could only get her to fold laundry and clean the house! Both of her top front teeth are loose and she is being careful at what she eats, everything has to be cut up small if it is too hard, I know she is excited to loose those teeth but I am not ready! The dentist said they would probably be out before she started kindergarten, that didn't happen, maybe she will get to keep them till Christmas, wishful thinking but I don't think so! She is doing very well with her reading and is enjoying reading a chapter book each week, we fished Amelia Bedilia and are now onto Junie B. Jones.

Here are the pictures from the month.