First Day of Preschool

A week after Victoria started school, Alex started Preschool!

Vic and I had big plans to make him feel special, especially after he seemed to feel left out the week before.

We got up Monday morning and greeted him with hugs and "happy first day of school!!" ... and he rolled over, gave a loud whine, and shouted, "I don't WANNA go to school!"

Well. That went great.

He didn't want to get dressed. Definitely didn't want to wear anything Mommy picked out. After lots of sweet talking, cajoling, reverse psychology, even trying to make it into a competition ... we finally got him out the door. He was whiny, combative, and resistant the entire time -- whether because he is a typical stubborn three year old, or was nervous about school, we will never know.

Thanks, Vic, for being my partner in crime that morning, trying your best along with me!

We used every trick in the book to keep him as happy as possible, and get him to hold up the sign. He wouldn't stand on the porch to do it (*he* wanted to pick the place he stood). Also note the shoes on the wrong feet!

The look on his face is priceless!

He smiled more when his sister joined him. I love how she even carried his backpack for him. <3 p="">

We got Victoria to school, then off to Wandering Roots Nature School! This is the same location as our child care we've used since Vic was a baby, but this year they are transitioning to a nature preschool. This is so exciting for all of us. Lou has offered a solid grounding in outdoor play and learning all along, but this transition makes it official, adds many new educational elements (like outdoor yoga, a clothesline, outdoor painting -- how cool!!), and brings a second teacher into the mix. Seriously -- check out the web site. It's gorgeous, and would make anyone fall in love with this place.

Look at their lovely new logo:

For check-in, they find the stone with their name on it. I love this. Alex does too.

Over the summer, the kids helped with the transition, including making an outdoor classroom. Here is Victoria proudly showing off the benches she helped assemble (and even pound!).

Inside, the space was transformed. From bright, primary colors, to soft neutrals and earth tones. 

Instead of plastic bins, the kids have galvanized buckets to store their extra clothes:

This area invites exploration of everything from wooden manipulatives to animal skulls!

There's still the pretend kitchen, but it too has had a charming makeover.

There's a new reading nook

And art area ...

The first day was very quiet and mellow, with just a couple new students. The second day, there were even more, and the energy skyrocketed. Alex greeted me at the door with: "Mommy I went into de woods today! And I wasn't even SCARED!"

The third day, the morning resistance increased. "I don't WANNA go to school! I don't want to go into de woods!"

Ohhhhh, transitions are so hard.

That day, he stayed closer to daycare (with Lou's group) rather than following his class into the woods. Lou and Amber brainstormed ways to pull him out of his shell, and concluded it really needed to be a moment where HE could make the choice. The next day I got this explanation from his teacher:

"I wanted to send you a quick message and let you know that yesterday and today were like night and day for Alex. Though he started this morning still apprehensive, I pulled him aside and asked him what he was worried about. He said he wanted to talk to you. So I grabbed a notebook and told him that he could tell me everything he wanted to tell you and I would write it down and give you the note at the end of the day. He liked that idea and said he wanted to tell you he picked a bunch of rocks yesterday and put them in his pocket and he wanted to give them to you. After that, as if that lifted all of his worry, he galloped into the woods and had no further issues the rest of the day. He was playing with new friends, jumping, climbing....he really enjoyed himself today and his new friends got to see the real Alex! It was really neat to see."

Although still a little trepidatious about all the new stuff, when I see him at the end of the day he is bubbling with energy about everything they have done ... I think his most exciting one was "crossing de big field!"

Check out some of the pictures the school has posted (all of these include Alex):

Based on all our family discussions so far, we will ALL benefit from this nature school!

Although, when we suggested a family hike last Sunday, Alex said: "Mom, I spend EVERY DAY in de woods at school, I no wanna go hiking!" hahaha (spoiler alert: he went hiking anyway).

Thanks, Amber and Lou, for all these precious experiences.

First Day of Kindergarten

Such a beautiful, happy, smiley, proud girl!

This is big stuff.

I always knew the first day of kindergarten would be momentous, but watching it through the eyes of my daughter was watching a transformation take place -- in her view of herself, her place in the world, and in our family's schedules and routines.

As the day approached, she happily picked out a first day of school outfit (thank you Grandma Bonnie for taking me shopping!). She picked out her sparkly blue shoes "because they're special mom, because I worked all summer to save money for them" (it's true -- she did). Although I cried on her last day at daycare, she cheerily said goodbye to our dear LouLou:

Lou was telling Vic that she knew she would do really well in kindergarten. I laughed at Victoria's very adult-like pose as she listened.

A last good-bye hug

I need to pause for a moment to highlight something VERY important that happened on the last day of daycare.

Victoria has been attempting the monkey bars all summer. Her friend Aubrie could do it, but she couldn't make it across (which usually meant I would pick her up at the end of the day, and she would ask me to hold on to her as she went back and forth). So it was momentous when, on the very last day, she was the very last kid present, and greeted me with: "mom! I did it! I can get across the monkey bars ALL BY MYSELF!"

Check out this video -- I'll say this is NOT how I was expecting her to get across the monkey bars.

Ha ha ha ... I love how she set this up!

Lou said that every bit of this routine was created by Vic herself (my soapbox: great example of why kids need lots of freedom to explore and create. The ingenuity is awesome!).

Ok, back to kindergarten. That morning, I walked down to her bedroom, rubbed her back and shook her awake, and I said, "happy first day of school!" Her eyes fluttered open with a huge smile on her face. I explained I was going to shower and get ready, and she asked: "Mom? Can I shower with you? So I'm all clean for my first day? I don't want to smell, ya know."

So shower she did. She picked out a necklace. I had given her a mother/daughter bracelet that matched one I was wearing. She even asked for some "perfume."

We made a lunch. This is a new part of our morning routine that we now need to accommodate:

Pictures on the front porch. It was dark and cloudy. Alex wasn't sure he wanted to cooperate. But he looked cute in his "matching Batman hat and sunglasses." Vic was beaming (note: she told her teacher at open house that she wanted to be called "Vic" in class and on her locker. So Vic it is).

All four of us walked her into school and into her classroom.

Again, the smiles! Her shoulders raised up a little bit because she was just so excited she couldn't contain it.

Piedmont is new and beautiful. The room was bustling with parents, and we all learned together where the kids' lockers were, where lunches should go (the big blue tub to be be later brought to the cafeteria).

The teacher advised them to find tables to sit at. We knew her "best friend from soccer," Amara, would be in her class. She was so relieved to have someone she knew to sit by!

Soon a third girl was sitting with them (Daddy was further away this time, letting her adjust to not having the parents nearby)

After about 10-15 minutes, we decided to stagger our leaving. Mommy and Alex left first. I gave her a hug, she looked a little tentative, and said, "Daddy is staying?" Matt said: "for just a few minutes." That was all she needed. I scooped up Alex from the table where he was playing near her, and he instantly began crying. He sobbed into my shoulder: "my stister!" I walked him out, asking if he was really upset at leaving his sister, or if he wanted to play with the toys. His answer: "my stister ..." sob ... That's when Mommy got teary. The brother/sister bond is pretty cool.

I drove him to daycare, and as he settled down he pointed out angrily: "Mama, you DIDN'T even let me give her a HUG!"

Poor guy. In trying to get out smoothly, it's true -- we hadn't let him process the fact that "Didi" was now in kindergarten :(.

He calmed down by the time we got to daycare. Mommy and Daddy spent all day wondering how school was going. By 2:30, I left work, and we walked to get her. She was in the Key Zone after-school program, and we found them out on the playground.

When she spotted us, she ran up with a radiant smile. She was playing with Griffin, her soccer friend :).

On the walk home, she figured out that since we didn't have Alex -- it must mean we had left work early to get her. "What? Why did you leave work early? I wanted to stay and PLAY!"

She gave kindergarten two thumbs up. Now that the first week has gone by, here is a little bit of what we have noticed, and where we are still adjusting:

• She seems happy there, every day. Even when she is tired.
• Having her "soccer friends" there has been the absolute best thing -- whether it's kids on the playground, or in the halls, that she already knows.
• Making lunches is fun so far. We will see if that continues ;). She's a good eater and always hungry!
• Victoria has adopted an air of responsibility, especially related to getting ready in the morning and helping her brother. It's quite impressive.
• She has talked at dinner time about the importance of "respect" and what it means.
• By day three, I watched as all the kindergarteners walked in, put their stuff in lockers, and sat down on the rug, quietly waiting. Impressive!
• She can't seem to remember most details of her day when we ask. School is exhausting, and all the newness takes a lot of brain power.
• It's harder than I thought have kids in two places that are twenty minutes apart. Drop-offs and pick-ups are tough to coordinate!
• I know much less about what goes on in her day. And this is ok. Just hard to get used to.

I feel like I really miss her. Part of it is about that last bullet (not knowing as much), and part of it is that I no longer get the car ride to daycare and home with her. It's less time each day with my baby girl, and mama is still adjusting.

Still, I am so thrilled with our little neighborhood school. The feeling of a tight community is pervasive, and the teachers, principal, KeyZone staff, front office -- they all seem wonderful. Victoria is happy and thriving. And that's all a mama could want.

Finally ... a day at the beach

There is so much to do around here in the summer, and yet our evenings and weekends leave such little time.

At the beginning of summer, I imagined plenty of time in the water. We spent an afternoon at Pike Lake, we swam while camping in Ely, and visited Pinehurst Pool. The one place we hadn't visited was Park Point.

With Lake Superior so close (moving to Duluth was a blessing), we had visited the lake throughout the summer. The really hot day after our big July 21 storm, when we had no power and the dogs had been in kennels all day, we rewarded them with a dip in the rock beach. We all went in the water, even mommy who came straight from work and went in wearing my dress.

Another day, after I had taken the kids out for happy hour with my friends (I just loved when I picked them up from daycare and they proudly announced, "mommy's taking us to HAPPY HOUR!"), they asked for a walk down to the lake. It was a perfect summer night; it would have been sacrilege NOT to go in the lake. We played in the water, then I watched as they found rocks to throw and looked for treasures along the shore. I put the phone down, refusing to check the time even though I knew we would have a late bedtime. Moments like this are too perfect to rush.

Shortly after, on another warm night after I'd heard through the Facebook grapevine "Lake Superior is warm!", I again packed up the kids and dogs, this time heading to Park Point. I know I said earlier that we hadn't visited Park Point until last weekend; part of me didn't consider this earlier visit a "real" beach experience because I didn't have a swim suit, because it was evening and we only had a short time there, and because I had the dogs (who totally deserved to go for a swim, but let's face it -- they also pulled at their leashes and barked at the other dogs there). The water that evening was indeed deliciously warm, that one time each summer the lake is warm enough to swim comfortably. It lasts about a week or two, if we are lucky. I wanted to go back right away, but life didn't let us. The memories of that brief feel of the warm water will have to be enough to last me until next year; I was so in-the-moment with the kids and the lake, I didn't even take pictures.

The end of August came and went. I assumed a "real" beach trip wouldn't happen. And then last Sunday, we decided the weather would be warm and we wanted some beach fun. Let me note that although the air was warm, the water most decidedly was not!

Alex refused to bring swim trunks or a swim diaper. "I'm not going in the water!" he said. He instantly loved the sand, though. Him, his sand toys ... and the Hulk.

We all go to the beach with the Hulk, right?

Vic, our cold-water girl, had her suit on before we left, and was the bravest in the water.

We built some sandcastles. Alex's was decorated with feathers.

Victoria built a valley with high walls for hers, and accented with sticks.

It was one of the most peaceful afternoons of the summer. The temperature was perfect. The kids, for maybe the first time, were relatively self sufficient, so other than watching for water safety, I could lay out and read a book. Matt laid back in the sand and relaxed, and occasionally took photos.

The tide turned, metaphorically, when a big driftwood log came rolling our way.

Victoria sat on it to "ride" ... in a split second, Alex saw her and thought game on! and rushed into the water, clothes and pull-up and all, to tackle the log and ride it with her.

Matt and I laughed endlessly at the boy who veritably screamed at us about even suggesting going in the water ... and who was now rolling the log, pushing the log, getting wet up to his chest, and laughing the whole time.

I've noticed Alex often makes these type of split-second decisions about things he decides are fun.

Eventually, rain threatened and we knew supper wouldn't be far off. Everyone trudged back through the warm sand, thankful for this beautiful treasure in our back yard.