Great Wolf Lodge

It was hard to take picture in the actual water park because my lens kept fogging up!
Playing Big Rig at the arcade with Daddy. I'm not sure who's having more fun...
Whack-a-Mole!
Our room had a little log cabin inside just for the kids. They loved the bunk beds and their own TV.

This post is a little out of order. Better late than never. We decided we needed to get one more family outing in before Audrey started school. Ben took a day off and we went down to Sandusky to Great Wolf Lodge. The kids loved it and were very independent this time, much easier than last time we went. Audrey went down almost every slide there. I was pretty impressed. I guess the summer of swimming at the swim club really helped them out!

Second Day of School

Some of the kids at our bus stop. As you can see it was windy and chilly this morning. A shock to the system after our hot summer.
There she goes!
Getting off the bus after school.
REUNITED!

I promise not to write a post for every single day of the school year. However, this was the first day for her to ride the bus so of course it has to be documented. Taking her to school yesterday was one thing, but actually watching the bus pull away was a lot harder. Audrey really wanted to take the bus and we have 8 Kindergarten kids in our sub all of whom are taking the bus so I wasn't going to hold her back. The Kindergarteners must sit in the front of the bus. That makes me feel better. At least she won't be involved with any 4th and 5th grade shenanigans. Also, next year I will probably be driving her since our area is getting redistricted to a crap school so I will be forced to do school of choice. No bussing is offered to school of choice kids so I figured I'd better take advantage of my one year for the bus.

The strange thing about the bus is that it all happens so fast. The bus driver quickly pulls up, opens the door while the bus is still moving, the kids basically run on the bus with excitement, she closes the door and quickly pulls away. I felt like I had the wind knocked out of me it happened so rapidly! By the time I got back up my driveway the bus was already to the front of my sub and she was gone. I wasn't the only one that was sad, Sawyer was as well. I'm not sure if it was that he missed Audrey or that he wanted to ride the bus too. I have a guess but I still like to think it was that he really missed Audrey! As you can see in the picture, he did give her a big hug when she got home.

First Day of Kindergarten

Her "cute pose," as she coined it.
Littlest Pet Shop backpack, bigger than her body.

In front of Hardy.
In front of her classroom
With her buddies, Katie and Haylee, outside the 1st grade room. They get lockers and Audrey was jealous!

Well, we made it through the first day of school. Or rather should I say, I made it through the first day of school. It was very strange to walk into an actual school, not just a preschool, and know that I was going to be leaving my baby there. Being a teacher, it would have felt more natural to stay there myself than to actually be dropping off my child for 8 hours. Because I've stayed home since Audrey was a newborn I've never had to drop her off anywhere for 8 hours unless I wanted to have a night out and we shipped the kids to grandma's. Other than that, I've been able to do as I please and keep whatever schedule I want for my kids for the past 5 years and I liked it that way...but those are my issues. Although I felt very excited for her and know that she is way more than ready for school it was still a bittersweet feeling. It's like that chapter of her life is over and it's time for a new adventure. The baby years are done and now it's time for the school years.

Audrey on the other hand was super excited about school. Her teacher's name is Miss Madaleno and she seemed very nice. Audrey likes her because she is young and pretty. That always works to the teachers' advantage when dealing with young girls, and probably high school boys. Her school is very nice and I feel very confident in the education she will receive there. I'm sure there will be many more school related postings in the near future. Stay tuned...