9/7/10 First Day of Third Grade

Well, believe it or not, Summer has wound to an end.  Apparently someone gave the summer-like weather that "back to school" memo too - since there was a definate fall feel in the air that morning and fallish type clothes were more than appropriate for that first day of school!

Back to the old routines, and trying to make some new "more organized" ones.  Everything was ready the night before including back pack and lunch, and outfit and new shoes laid out to try to make the morning go smoothly.

Some "back to school" jitters came with the morning sun, but everything went smoothly and we were ready early enough for some outside time before the bus was to come.  Noah wanted to scooter in the driveway to burn off a bit of nervous energy.  We have a bus stop at our driveway, so that is super convenient.  Baxter was remembering the morning routine too, and was wanting to be out to see Noah off (even kitty Delia was watching from the front door with all the outside activity).  Our neighbor Dan and his mom were over for the bus and pictures, and another neighbor friend Romero came down too since there wasn't a group at his stop up the street. So we had 3rd, 4th and 5th grade well represented at our stop.

Very soon the big yellow bus showed up, and everyone got on to start the adventure of the new school year.

Baxter remembered when that bus pulls away, it is time for our morning walk, so off we went too...remembering how things went from Spring.  Of course the day flew by and in the blink of an eye the bus was dropping everyone off again at the end of the day.  First day was complete!  Noah had gotten the teacher he wanted and lots of his familiar friends (including good friend Sam) in his class, so this should be a good year!

Here are shots of previous first days of school to show how much he has grown since starting school. Time just flies by!

2nd Grade:

First Grade:

Kindergarten:

Another milestone passed!

Jen

A sleepover!

As summer is winding to a quick close, there was one more fun weekend to be had.  We had invited Noah's friends Lance and Bryce (twins) over for a sleepover before school starts.  So Saturday of Labor Day weekend we met their family at Cici's Pizza in Inver Grove Heights for a pizza night, and they had 2 friends of Jade's with them for a girl's sleepover that night at their house too.  So the group had yummy pizza (and Cinnamon Rolls)  before heading to the houses for the sleepover nights.

Once home, the 3 boys turned the basement into camp out central with blankets and sleeping bags and toys and snacks etc.  A short outdoor play time and then in for the night.  The pup had to be gated out of the basement since he was all too eager to help them eat their snacks.  Everyone got along well, and as expected sleeping wasn't the high priority of their evening.  At least some sleep was had by some, and then a morning of breakfast and more play time before our afternoon meeting.  Along the way they decided to "redecorate" Noah's under the bed lounging area.

It is amazing how they all clean up well for meeting. :)   Boys in nice suits emerged by the time we had to leave.

They were all actually really well behaved during our service... positive peer pressure. :)  Here is a cute pic of the 3 of them with Noah's friends Michael and Carter from our hall:

After meeting since they had been so good it was a quick drive through at DQ for cones to go.  They had a few more hours to eat and play before Mandy and Jeff came to pick them up that night.  I think they were hoping for another night extension, but time for a break to get everything organized for school starting on Tuesday.   Everyone got along well enough though that I'm sure this won't be the last night together. 

A nice way to end a great summer!

Jen

Getting prepped for "back to school"

Today was Meet the Teacher Day at our school.  I got off work early today to bus back and make the end of the time slot.  Lots of familiar teacher faces, and schoolmates checking out their new classrooms. Time to put supplies in their clean desks and see where everyone is sitting.  Noah got the teacher he was hoping for this year - so that is great.  And bonus is he has lots of familiar friends in his class this year including his good friend Sam! They haven't been together in a class since kindergarten, so it will be a fun year for them this year.

After the event, we had supper at Grandma Mary's and some family chat time. Grandma surprised Noah with a special dessert to commemorate his going back to school to start 3rd grade:

A day at MOA

Tuesday was supposed to be rainy here, so instead of a park, Bethany and I decided to take our kids out to MOA to walk around and do some back-to-school shopping, catch some rides and get lunch etc. Indoor day. 

The mall was packed! Everyone had a similar idea to us, I guess for last week of vacation.  Stores were busy, park was busy, food court was busy. But people seemed in pretty good moods, and so did our kids for the most part, so we went with the crowds and had a fun little day.    We got some school clothes and lunch and rides and made some fun photo memories. :)

(Noah and Sophia are in the back row of the car...speed is fun!)

(Noah found someone to ride Brain Surge with that liked spinning too)

Ab got a ride too!

Jimmy Neutron ride...

Abigail wanted to ride on the balloons

Noah and Sophia dicided to ride too as their last ride

(this is where the Lego Store USED TO BE) We are getting a new one!

Meeting some favorite characters

Think Happy!