Week Forty-One

Tuesday was my last day home before school started so we had a special day together. It started with making waffles.

And then walking to the pool.

Doing a little of this...

...and a little of that.

Then we hit the store and went shopping for school supplies (nothing like waiting til the last minute)

and got it all sorted and organized. Oh man, that is so right up my alley. Is there anything better than new school supplies and an organized backpack on the first day of school?

That night Clifton and I went on a hike in the Flatirons while Jess watched the kids. It was our little celebration of the end of summer. You know this is early in the hike because my hair is down; I'm not dripping with sweat; I don't want to die yet.

At Royal Arch. Hair back. Sweat dripping. Want to die. But worth it.

Making our way back down again at sunset...

...when we spotted these bears!!

Wednesday was Naomi's back to school night where she met her teacher Miss Tucker.

And Thursday morning was the big day!

Annika's setting the bar high.

All ready for their first day of school.

A quick picture with Jess before we headed to the bus stop.

With Rachel at the bus stop. Rachel lives next door and is starting fifth grade and I think was a huge reason that Naomi made this transition so smoothly.

Getting on the bus. I wasn't worried about Naomi getting on the bus. I was more worried about her getting on the right bus to get home. So we had this great plan: I would see her bus number when it pulled up at her bus stop, write the number on her hand, and she would know which bus to get on in the afternoon. Instead I stood amazed as she got on the bus without looking back, snapped a photo, waved as she drove off... And then realized I hadn't written her bus number. Or even noticed it! Oops. Fortunately Rachel was waiting outside her classroom door and walked her to the bus.

Then Annika and I headed to school for her first day of preschool. It was more like a little orientation morning, but she was *so* excited to walk into that room, hand each teacher a flower, and plop herself down with the toys.

And then she made a little craft. Heaven. This girl was in heaven.

And home again at the end of the day. This year the kids have these cards they swipe (see the kid behind her) so if she got on the wrong bus it would tell her that. 

Day one: total success.

Then Naomi and I went to a coffee shop to sit down and talk about her day. She liked her teacher. She made *at least* two friends. Blake pushed her in line and had to go to the front and hold the teacher's hand. And eating in a cafeteria was fun. The life of a kindergartner.