First Day of Kindergarten...FINALLY!

This day has been long anticipated, my friends. Well...at least for the last week, when Ben got to go to school. And then Audrey got to go to school. And Megan was still stuck at home with Mom and Simon.

But no more! This cute girl finally made it to kindergarten today!

I believe I've mentioned it before, but this is Megan's fourth first day of school. She started pre-K in Georgia, then started pre-K again when we moved to Albuquerque, then pretended to start kindergarten when she went to the K-3+ summer school. So, fourth first day at her fourth new school.

Flashbacks! An almost one-year-old Megan

to an almost six-year-old Megan.

Man, they get big fast.

First Day of 2nd Grade!

This little sunshine started her first day of 2nd grade today, and let me tell you, there was a lot of excitement at our house this morning.

We're at a brand new school yet again--this is actually Audrey's fifth school in four years. And she's only in second grade...maybe we move too much.

Flashback again! Audrey Jane's first day of preschool in 2011:

And now. Goodness, they get big:

First Day of Pre-K!

After years and years of watching his sisters head off to school, Ben finally got his turn to go to "real" school today.

He just looks so big! He was much more excited about being 4 today than he was on his birthday. Four means you're old enough to go to Pre-K, doncha know.

Even after those years and years of dropping his sisters off at school, I admit that I still teared up a bit when I walked out of the classroom and left him there. Sometimes it's just hard to admit that this:

turns into this:

Summer End Fun #3

Summer End Fun #3: The Zoo! Or, more accurately, the day we rode the train multiple times.

I was talking to Chris this morning about the fact that anytime I try to remember the zoo, I can only picture Atlanta's zoo. Everyone else came to visit this zoo with Michael and Amanda while I was in Utah in May--this was my first time back since we've moved.

Though, truth be told, most of our time was not so much about the zoo...

We did have a good start. The crowds were pretty light first thing after opening.

Really, though, the kids just kept talking about the train. They really didn't care about any of the rest of it. So, we took the train. They have one that runs from the zoo to the Botanic Gardens and back.

It was quite a pleasant ride, actually.

Since we happened to be at the Botanic Gardens now between 10 and 4 on the right day of the week, we stopped in to see the model trains in action.

Simon didn't care so much.

He did seem opposed to taking the train back, though...

Once we made it back to the zoo we stopped for lunch. We've had so many picnics this summer.

Then, because it was the unanimous vote between all the kids (who are old enough to have an opinion), we took the train that goes just around the zoo before heading home. It was almost 100 degrees and we were melting.

Simon and Ben were both too hot and tired to care about a picture. I thought we did pretty good, still, getting at least most of everyone's faces in the shot. :)

Summer End Fun #2

Summer End Fun #2: The Botanic Gardens

This was our first visit to the Botanic Gardens in Albuquerque, and I feel like Audrey gave the best summary of our experience. When we were about halfway through, she said, "You know, I thought this place was going to be really boring, but it's actually really cool."

We started in the Children's Fantasy Garden.

"We have to bring Grandma Karrie here. The whole place is orange!"

"Show this to Dad. It's even bigger than his pinecone!"

The model train wasn't running today--the kids all concocted a plan to get their chores done "really really fast" on Saturday so we can come back and bring Dad to see the trains.

Then the Butterfly Pavilion.

I really wanted to get a picture of this one with it's wings open. They were bright blue.

We stopped for a snack, then took the trail around the pond.

Ben spent most of his time folding and unfolding his map. Reminded me of Dalton.

Audrey found her new favorite flower.

By then, we were all getting too hot and opted to bail out in favor of ice cream cones. Summer Success again!

Summer End Fun #1

School starts next week...kind of. Of three kids starting school this fall, we have three different first days at two different schools. Huh. Anyway, we've decided to take advantage of this last week with everyone home to get out of the house and enjoy us some adventures.

Summer End Fun #1: The Aquarium

It's no Atlanta Aquarium, but it's a fun stop and the kids love it.

I think Simon had the most fun--he's been quite enthusiastic about walking since we came home from camping. Rocks everywhere and wearing shoes all weekend really cramped his style.

I know his eyes look creepy, but this is such a good walking picture!

We ended our day with Family Home Evening. Selected activity: marshmallow war. What better way to be together as a family than to shoot each other?

Again, Simon won out. He kept getting shot at, but then he ate all the ammo.