They're All Grown Up

Not sure when it happened, but my babies have grown into kids. They both headed off to elementary school today - Will to 1st grade and Kaity to pre-K. The first day of school was always so much fun and exciting for me. And, luckily it's that way for my kids too. You've got new school supplies to show off, new clothes, new teachers, hopefully old friends, and so much more. Because we're in such a small school, we only have one class per grade. So most of Will's class is moving from kindergarten to first grade with him. We'll get a few new students and a few who don't come back, but mostly he knows everyone. And, his three best friends - Chance, Coy, and Dalton - will be there with him. Although, Ms. Cathy was smart and did NOT sit them at the same table together. They're going to be major trouble (and heartbreakers) in the years to come.

Kaity was super-excited to start as a "minitee." She can't say mini-manatee which is what the pre-k kids are called. She had outgrown her preschool awhile ago and was ready for a new challenge. Luckily for her, her best friend from daycare, Hannasha, also lives in Micanopy and is going to school there. Hannasha and Kaity have been in class together since they were 6 months old. They haven't seen each other in a month and greeted each other with a big hug this morning. The teachers may have more than they bargained for with the two of them. Hannasha switches between French and English (she's Belgian) and Kaity has diarrhea of the mouth. But, they are super, super cute together.

Here are a few pictures from the morning. Kaity insisted on this dress when school shopping. We had other cuter, better fitting choices, but I would only let her pick one dress and she had to have the all pink one.



Showing off her backpack. I didn't see any reason to get her a new backpack for pre-k so she's using the one that we used to use as a diaper bag. Still pink and has her initials. And, by the way, we've bought several of these LLBean back packs and they are great. This is a junior sized one and it's perfect for 4-7 year olds.



Will in his cool, new school clothes he picked out. The first grade teacher is not big on images of violence (including superheroes) so we'll have to check his shirt choices before school every morning since most of them contain spiderman, superman, iron man, or some version of --man.



He did get a new backpack this year. And, since he's almost 7, I let him pick one from the next size up. Again, it's an LLBean and he got the matching lunch box. It's got a spider on it which is intended to scare people because they'll think it's a real spider on his bag.



He didn't want to hold hands with her, but she insisted.



Micanopy Manatees!



















Will is all excited about his new class. He was one of the first ones there and ready for me to leave immediately. This is his "please leave so I can talk to my friends" face.



BFFs - Kaity and Hannasha



I'm ready for a great year. I can feel that it's going to be awesome!