Early Fall.

We have thrived during Ben's first week of school. In fact, when I mentioned that today was Friday the response from Ben was a huge groan. I was prepared to be told that he didn't want to go to school again today but instead was told that he loved school and was having so much fun that he didn't want to have to be home all weekend! Yeah!!!!

Post first day of school cookies at Jolly Cafe. Mom and Dad were hoping for all of the delicious details of the day... some of which were shared!

Here are a few other cute pictures of our transition into the fall weather.

Scavenger hunt at the college trails courtesy of our dear friend Miss Sara.
Taking time to smell the flowers.
First of many cozy nests by the fire.
Proud Lego building thanks to Uncle D and Aunt Kim!

Kindergarten.

Well today marks the day that I said I would postpone until next year. I feel guilty, disappointed, excited and hopeful. I know that after months of sleepless nights we made the best decision for him. He is thrilled! His teacher is amazing and he is in a small class setting in a wonderful school. There.... seeing it in writing does help.

Ben starts afternoon kindergarten today. He will be in school from 12-3pm and I am excited for him. We made the decision to send him to 1/2 day kindergarten because he is ready for more and yet we want him to still have the freedom to explore, go slow and be. Our thought process is that next year we can always move him to our neighborhood school (which no longer offers 1/2 day programs - what is happening to our world?!) and he could repeat kindergarten but now in a full day setting. He is so ready for kindergarten but we just want to make sure that he is ready to make the tough decisions in HS and college. He's a June birthday, not really young but maybe just enough? We want to give him the best start possible.... sigh.....

Last night was his open-house. He carefully picked out the shirt he was going to wear - it had a picture of a fish on it. Last week when he met his teacher, Mrs. Ortleib, they had discussions about big fish. He had never worn this shirt before but chose it so that he would have something to show her. I thought it was very, very sweet. He was quiet but his eyes were darting around the room taking it all in. We could see that he was thrilled! Loved the excitement, loved the room, loved everything about it. When I was tucking him in last night I asked him "Are you excited?", "Yes!", "Are you nervous?", "Nope.". He loves new adventures. Maybe more of that should rub off on me?

We are so proud of him.

Wrapping up and looking forward.

As I've said a million times, this was the best summer of my life (thus far)! In our home, we are feeling slightly melancholy to see things ending and so have decided to work on the list of things we want to do this fall. Our notes show things like apple cider, football games, jumping in piles of leaves, fall walks in the woods, reading and knitting by the fire, sitting on the front porch with blankets, Halloween, carving pumpkings.... and when you look at it like that, we have a ton of fun ahead of us!

But.... before we get too far ahead of ourselves. I do want to remember a few things from the summer.
1) Ben can now kayak all by himself! He does a remarkably good job!
2) The kids came so far with their swimming this year. I have two fish!
3) We had so many wonderful adventures around the islands this summer. The kids will sit on the boat for hours exploring channels, hiking islands, swimming in the cool water and picnicking.
4) The fair.... not always my favorite place but I have to say that this year it had a new shine to it. Living where we do, we are thankfully not exposed to malls, amusement parks, etc. etc. so the fair held a special flair for the kids.


On a sad note, I have lost my beloved camera. I know exactly the last time I had it.... where I was, what I was wearing, what I was carrying, but I have not been able to find it. I'm afraid it is gone. I have realized how much I enjoyed using it to capture all of the little moments of our lives that just so quickly slip by but are what make it so rich and so mine. Hopefully we will come up with another alternative soon but for now we are getting by with David's phone.....