First Day of Kindergarten!

Today is the day. After weeks of anticipation and preparation, Cadence put on her new school uniform, I packed her lunch in her princess lunch bag, and it was time to go. With warnings of traffic chaos on my mind, we left early and ended up being right on time. Cadence asked that we walk her to her classroom the first day, so we parked on one of the side streets and followed the flow of pedestrian traffic, sweating the whole way (humidity is a killer, ugh!)

The moment we reached the classroom, I became chopped liver in Cadence's world. As soon as we hit the doorway, she ran to her teacher shouting "Hi, I'm here!" and I stood helplessly cast aside as the teacher helped her find her desk. The useless feeling was equally met with pride that she could so capably adapt to this new classroom without my aid. She at least deigned to allow me to take one picture of her at her seat before she returned her full attention to coloring and brushed off my "I'll see you after school" farewell.

So the remaining duo trekked back to the car with me (I had carried Connor, not caring to maneuver a stroller in crowded halls) to brave the remaining traffic to get home. Truthfully, it wasn't too bad, though I expect parent pick-up will be sheer chaos, since everyone will be coming at once instead of staggered waves. We'll see, I suppose.

It's 8:30 here. Cadence's class started officially half an hour ago. I have a kindergartner!

Zoo Pictures (Can never have too many!)

With school starting next week, I wanted to do one last trip to the zoo with Cadence. I'm currently struggling with a strange sense of guilt as I consider going with the youngest two and not her, a sort of "it's not fair that we get to go do this fun thing and they don't" sentiment. I'll admit it's a silly feeling, and I'll be over it soon enough. Besides, we had her kindergarten orientation tonight and I am super excited for her to start school now that I have a better idea of what's going to happen. (We find out her teacher tomorrow afternoon when we go in to do the final batch of registration paperwork).

The weather was not going to cooperate with a zoo trip anytime this week, so we packed cold water bottles and apple slices and braved the 90-degrees-feels-like-105-with-humidity weather. It was about as nasty as expected, but we came prepared and did a route to take advantage of the various air-conditioned spots. We got there right as the gates opened and high-tailed it to the far end of the zoo to work our way back to the front, doing most of our outdoor viewing before we ran out of steam and recharged in the various a/c cooled buildings near the front at the end of our visit. For about twenty minutes, it looked like the storm overhead might break early, but it just rumbled at us, spit a few drops and sat there.

Playing at the "African Village". They recently installed a "primitive shower" which I tricked the girls into reading a sign under the showerhead before pushing the button to douse them with water. Mwahaha.

Taking our first break at the chimpanzee house. The chimps kept wandering close to the window to pick up stray pieces of broccoli.

Exploring the prairie dog tunnels. Eventually I took Connor in as well and we got an up-close look at the animals.

This tortoise was looking for some food and kept sticking his mouth out.

Super quick pictures before I snagged Connor back before he could put his fingers in snapping reach.

Another break at the playground, where Cadence was quite dramatically "eaten" by the hippo several times.

At the flamingo pond, we started a group of ducklings right beside the fence. The kids were so excited to see them up close, even though the mother and father quickly herded their little ones away from the noisy giants.

One of our final stops, the "wild encounters" room. Connor got free reign here and ran up to say hi to every animal he could see.

We made it back to the car in one piece, handed out the cold apple slices, divvied up the remaining water into sippy cups and water bottles and headed out. Now we're having a lazy afternoon in our a/c cooled house. Tomorrow's another busy day, with a library visit and registration for Cadence in the afternoon. Friday morning we meet the teacher, then we have to hang out at home for the foundation repairmen to come do their job.

Just another Friday?

For the past couple weeks, I've felt like I'm just holding my breath as I wait for August 25th, so not a lot has happened. We've done the usual trips to the library, grocery shopping, and a couple playdates.

But, given our normal schedules, the last couple weeks have been very quiet. I didn't realize how much we actually do until we weren't doing anything for awhile. Heck, we've barely made it out to the gym the last few weeks because one of us or the other has been sick. Currently, I'm working my way through a mild head cold (you know, the kind that doesn't completely debilitate you, but just has you feeling miserable for days on end).

Yesterday, we did our first "exciting" thing in weeks and for some reason, I was a complete wreck as the appointment drew closer: Cadence had her kindergarten assessment. For completely irrational reasons, I dwelled on the upcoming meeting.

Naturally, the actual experience was simple. We reached the elementary school and were greeted by a group of bubbly pre-teens who were running the table for their mom (principal? PTO president? counselor?) Either way, they were adorable in their way of handling the responsibility in a way only pre-teens can. They checked Cadence's name off of the list and walked her down the hall to a kindergarten classroom, leaving us behind.

Megan watched a movie on my tablet, Connor played a lockable color/numbers game on my phone and I watched the other parents and wondered if they were as excited/anxious/nervous about this whole kindergarten ordeal as I was, but didn't dare speak. I did get a few comments from one mom who admired Connor's... we'll call it tenacity as he frequently attempted to flee down the halls. And another mom reacted when I complimented her child's tiara headband as she returned from her assessment. We spoke briefly about how her kindergartner was also her oldest and she too had two younger ones at home. As they left, I couldn't help but wonder if that little girl would be in Cadence's class and whether she might become Cadence's best friend. Given the tiara, I imagine they'd have a lot in common...

Finally, Cadence returned, entrusted by the teacher to walk back down the hall by herself. She was all smiles as she talked about reading books with the teacher and naming letters and words that started with it and counting buttons and almost falling out of her chair.

Next Friday we'll spend a few minutes meeting her teacher, seeing her classroom and dropping off the pack of school supplies we'll be picking up at the kindergarten orientation Tueday night. With just over a week to go, I still can't seem to grasp that this is really happening.

I'm such a mess of emotions. I'm so excited for her to start school and have the new experiences and make new friends, but I am going to miss her like crazy. Though, I think Megan is going to miss her constant companion more.