This year, though, we managed to compensate for the fact that she wouldn’t be in school.  Her friends Gracie and L., who left two years ago, along with their mom and dad, to be missionaries in India, are back on furlough and in the area.  So we made plans for the dads and the kids to go and see Despicable Me at the movie theater while the lovely Mrs. K. and I took Rerun with us and went shopping and browsing.

From all accounts, the movie was a total hit with the kids and the dads.  Shopping, with a stop for coffee along the way, for me and Mrs. K. was a wonderful and leisurely way to spend the afternoon.  Rerun was the perfect shopping companion, and eventually fell asleep in his stroller with a blanket tucked around him.  Did I mention it was pouring rain?  But this is the Pacific Northwest!  Who needs an umbrella?  We had rain jackets!

After the movie, the whole group came back to our house, but Ane asked if Gracie could ride in our car.  L., not wanting to be left out, asked to come in our car, too.

This was the scene in the backseat of our minivan:

I caught Gracie mid-word when I shot this picture, so I took another one:

But the first shot was better of L.  You just can’t win!  But you can see the rain pelting down on the back window.

After some time spent playing at our house (the girls retreated to Ane’s room to play, while I brought out Tad’s Star Wars LEGO sets for him and L. to play with – L. was thrilled), they had to leave, with the promise to come back and play again soon.

This has been such a fun experience for Ane – it’s been two years since she’s seen these friends, and yet she hadn’t forgotten them.  And they hadn’t forgotten her or Tad, and now there’s our sweet little Rerun, who Gracie thinks is so much fun.  Mrs. K. is pretty smitten with him, too.

So, even though our Labor Day was very wet and rainy, it was a whole lot of fun.  And not once did Ane complain that she missed school.  She was having way too much fun to miss school this time.

With the weather almost giving summer a miss and heading straight into fall, Ane and I went back-to-school shopping and made sure she had some nice school clothes – long-sleeved tops mostly, along with new jeans and a pair of brown pants – and a new pair of brown casual dress shoes to go along with her tennis shoes.

Of course, she begged and pleaded with me to let her wear the new brown shoes for the first day of school.  Since the shoes have a design punched out in the leather on them, I had made the rule that she can’t wear them on rainy days, because her feet may get wet.  And the weather was supposed to be mildly rainy for the first day of school – it had rained the night before.

So, on Wednesday morning, before she got dressed, I agreed to let her wear her new shoes.  That sent her scrambling into her room to get dressed, happy as a clam.

On Wednesday night, she was getting in her nightie when she yelled, “Mom, we need to pick out my clothes for school tomorrow.  Do I have any more new short-sleeved shirts in my drawer?”

“Um, no, you just wore the only one.  But it is going to warm up and be sunny tomorrow, so just pick a short-sleeved shirt.”

“MOM!  I can’t wear a shirt to school that I wore LAST YEAR!” she cried indignantly.

We finally compromised on a shirt that she wore over the summer, but had not worn to school yet because it didn’t warm up enough until after school ended for her to wear it.  And, of course, she insisted on the new shoes.

My word.  What hath we wrought?

At first, he was intrigued.

However, as time went on and the cereal got colder, he was less thrilled.

Eventually, he worried most of it down.  And then Mommy let him play with the spoon.

Which I suspect is what he really wanted all along.

Ane was ready and raring to go this morning.

New shirt, new headband, new jeans, new shoes and curled hair.

Because it’s not first grade unless you have new shoes and a gap in your mouth where a tooth used to be.

Tad, who is in afternoon kindergarten, was less enthusiastic about getting on the bus and going to school.

He had a new shirt and new jeans, but he’s a boy.  New clothes mean almost nothing – unless there’s a shark on the shirt.

But he went – whining a little – onto the bus, and I really hope that he has a good day at his new school.

And Rerun is napping, so there is peace and quiet.  For now.

I could get used to this!

The class lists were posted yesterday evening for the first time, so we got to find out who her teacher is.

And guess what?

IT’S MS. V!!!  Her kindergarten teacher has moved up a grade and will be her first grade teacher this year!  To say that Ane is excited is an understatement.

It also makes me feel better about turning over my little girl to the school for six hours a day, since I’m sending her into the care of a teacher I know and like – quite a lot, actually.

I never had the same teacher two years in a row in elementary school.  The Captain did, for 1st and 2nd grade (I think), but I don’t recall that Ressis or Auntie ever did.  I am so pleased that Ane gets to have her wonderful teacher again this year.

*****

Speaking of school prep, I finally have a list of things to send in for Tad’s kindergarten class.  Among them are a bath towel and bathing suit.

After school gets started, Tad’s class is going to have swimming lessons during class time on Mondays!  The elementary school he is attending (Woodmoor, for those of you keeping track) has the district’s only elementary pool.  And there was a sign-up for parent volunteers to help with swim time!

So Rerun will be hanging out with Grandma and Gichan on some Monday afternoons while I play in the pool with Tad’s class.

*****

I finally heard from Tad’s new bus drivers.  Because he is in special ed classes outside of his neighborhood school, the drivers actually make contact with the parents.  I talked to the driver who will be bringing him home (a woman), but I missed the phone call from the driver who will be picking him up.  He left a message that went something like this:
“Hi, my name is M., and I will be Tad’s bus driver going to school in the afternoons… I will pick him up at 11:50 at (the entrance to our cul-de-sac)… and I’m Ane’s Sunday School teacher too, so this should be really fun!  See you on Wednesday!”

I called Ane over to listen to the message, and her eyes got round.  “Is that my Teacher M?”  she giggled.  “He’s going to be Tad’s bus driver??  That’s so cool!”

I knew that M. was a bus driver for the district – I’ve known the family for years, and his wife is in book club with me, and the two of them teach the kindergarten/first grade Sunday School class – but I just find it so exciting that he’s going to be Tad’s bus driver!  Again, it’s just another comforting and reassuring thing for this Mommy.

*****

Tomorrow is the big day – school starts for both kids.  I won’t post until I have pictures of both kids going off to their first day of the school year, and Tad isn’t getting picked up until it’s time for afternoon kindergarten… so don’t look for anything new until the afternoon.

And it will be a big day for Rerun, too – we’re planning on starting him on rice cereal.  My baby!  *sob*  His first solid food!

I weighed him yesterday and I think he’s pushing 19 pounds.  He’s 8 days away from 6 months old!  Clearly, his diet has been quite filling.  But he’s been trying to grab at whatever we’re eating, so clearly, he’s ready for some of that to come his way.

Clearly, we live in exciting times!

We went to Woodland Park Zoo again last Friday – because the keeper at the penguin chat the last time we visited told us that they do a live trout feed on Fridays at 11 am.

Since it was the last Friday before the kids start school, I had the Webmaster take the day off, and we went to the zoo.  Got good parking, went in, and headed straight for the penguin habitat.

We were not disappointed.

The trout are about 4 to 6 inches long – perfect penguin food.  I love that they do this – it lets us see the penguins in action, and it gives the kids a proper idea of what the term “food chain” means.

All the kids in attendance, in fact, were cheering each time a penguin gulped a fish.  It was very exciting.

Rerun was confused about all the squealing by the kids, but was his usual observant self.

After a while, the few remaining trout were just hiding by the bottom, and the penguins were full, even though the kids were finding the fish and trying to yell to the penguins where they were.

The weather was cool, but the sun had just begun to break out from behind the clouds.  It was a pleasant day to be outside.

Our other goal at the zoo was to see areas that we hadn’t gotten to yet.  So we headed up to the Northern Trail end of the zoo, which was really shaded and quiet.  And then we saw… BEARS.

There is a fantastic bear viewing area, and a couple of brown bears were out for all to see, gnawing on the remains of their lunch bones.  The viewing area is built right in front of a simulated river and pool, which has live trout swimming in it, just in case the bears get hungry and decide to have a snack.

This bear saw his brother (these two were twin brothers, according to the zookeepers) drop what was left of his bone in the water, so he decided to go in after it.

He found it.

We also saw bald eagles up on the Northern Trail.

One of the fun things about Woodland Park Zoo is that they have little statues of animals at their exhibits – statues that you can pose with, and even climb on.

We managed to find a few more of these statues and take some pictures this time.

And the kids found the tapir – and thanks to our many visits to the zoo over the summer, they know what a tapir is.

Ane thought having a pet tapir would be fun – they are vegetarians and could eat the grass on our lawn – but wasn’t enchanted with the idea of cleaning up after it.

We have so enjoyed the zoo this summer.  The pass was a fantastic Christmas gift from my aunt and uncle, and we have had wonderful experiences and made great memories.

And we get to keep coming back and having fun, even though summer is drawing to a close.  It’s a gift we plan on taking full advantage of for as long as we can!

Yes, that is Tad’s bed on one end of the wall, and the crib on the other end.  This crib is doing it’s third tour of duty, and Rerun now has something much bigger than the basinette to sleep in (thankfully).  And the road map floor rug that Grandma and Gichan gave Tad for his birthday last year has finally made it into the bedroom!

The corner shelf went to the shed for now (which means that Tad’s books are in the closet, under his bed, and in that milk crate next to his bed – we will need to figure out shelf space later), and the glider went to the end of the hallway – for now.  It may move to the living room later, once the cradle is no longer needed.

And the changing table went to the corner where the glider used to be:

Nothing in this room had really moved in nearly 7 years – except that we’d swapped the crib out for the toddler bed.  But footprint-wise, nothing had changed.  Now the Webmaster and I are completely confused every time we enter the room.  I did manage to set up the changing table in the exact same manner as before – diaper pail at one end, garbage can at the other – so we don’t get all discombobulated.

Rerun was liking his new pad.

He was relishing the extra space to roll around and rotate without hitting the sides – like he was in the basinette.

He was pretty happy about it, I think.

Tad was strangely excited about having a roommate.  This could end up being a very good thing for him, because he is still continually coming into our room at night and sleeping on the floor.  We’re not sure if he just feels lonely, or needs to know exactly where we are.  I’m very interested to see how this pans out over the next few days.  And I’m also interested to see if Rerun sleeps a little more soundly now, without Mommy and Daddy in the same room.

Ane, predictably, wanted to know why Tad always gets EVERYTHING – up to and including getting to have Rerun sleep in HIS room instead of HERS.  As she kissed Rerun good night, she said, “Good night, Rerun – I hope you have a really lousy time with Tad, because then you’ll have to move into MY room.”

I can’t win.

Regardless, we have a boys’ room now.  And it’s going to stay that way for a while.

Now I need help.  Is there any other series or books out there that anyone thinks is appropriate for a six and a half year old who will be starting first grade next week?  I was considering The Boxcar Children series, but maybe we should start The Chronicles of Narnia instead?

Any suggestions for me?

Oh, and if you happen to be the parents of Little Cousin, Littler Cousin, Belle, Berry, Beth or Baby Bee (her blog name until she is born) – your Obachan needs book ideas for your girls’ Christmas gifts (and since I do Obachan’s Christmas shopping, this means I need ideas).  Hint, hint.

And if anyone knows of a children’s series that features a shark as the main character, I should probably know about that, too.

Ramona and Beezus was a really sweet, fun movie (also appropriately rated G), but I am glad that I insisted that Ane read all the books first.  The movie is a more modern take on the stories – considering that Ramona the Pest was published in 1968, and Ramona’s World was published in 1999, all the stories had to be modernized in order to fit together into one cohesive script.  And the movie does borrow elements from all the different stories.  For example, one of the major plot points is Mr. Quimby losing his job (very appropriate for these times), which is taken directly from Ramona and Her Father.  However, Roberta is also a part of the family (she makes her appearance at the end of Ramona Forever), and Aunt Bea’s relationship with Uncle Hobart is also a big part of the movie.

The casting was perfect, though I had initially expressed my doubts to Friend about the casting of John Corbett as Mr. Quimby (My Big Fat Greek Wedding came out 8 years ago???) because he didn’t strike me as a good “Dad” type for the movie.  However, it worked!  I also liked the fact that the movies reflected the characterizations of the books, possibly even better than the Ramona TV series from 1988.  Speaking of the TV series, my Dad taped those shows all those years ago; now we need to borrow them and put them on DVD so Ane can watch them.

Ane enjoyed the movie – though she kept talking through it, mostly because she was pointing out all of the things she remembered from the stories – but even she noticed how the movie was not exactly true to the book.  And so, my daughter learns one of the sad truths of movie adaptations: The  movie ALWAYS leaves things out.  Being Ane, she was quite indignant about it later, but that didn’t keep her from asking if we could get the movie when it comes out on DVD.

Oh, and I cried when Picky-picky died – at which point Ane, who was quite clearly exasperated with me, hissed, “Mom!  MOM!  It’s just a movie!”

Anyway, Ane’s criticisms aside, we had fun.  It was nice to be able to take her to a movie and enjoy a little time away.

This tooth left a bit of a hole, which I find endearingly cute (she won’t let me take a picture yet), and there’s no permanent tooth popping in just yet.  But this tooth was quite ready to go, and only needed a gentle tug.  Her top front teeth are wiggly, but not quite ready to go yet.

While she was moping (and before I produced the popsicles), I reminded her that she’d lost teeth before.  “This is all a part of growing up,” I reminded her.

“You didn’t tell me that,” she pouted.

Trust me, there was no pouting when she discovered the quarter the Tooth Fairy left behind.

The Webmaster and I have also decided that Ane is ready for regular chores.  She now has some designated weekly chores that she will have to be responsible for in order to earn her allowance.  In addition to keeping her room tidy, she is now responsible for collecting the garbage each Monday night (our garbage gets picked up on Tuesday mornings), helping take the recycling out on the same night, dusting the living room on Saturdays, and helping me with the laundry.  I’ve been teaching her how to fold diapers, and she’s quite good at sorting socks for me.

Ane was initially reluctant to get started on collecting the garbage, but as I walked her through it, she became downright enthusiastic.  “Hey, this is easy!” she exclaimed.  “I can do this!”

While her father is pleased that she’s learning to pull her own weight in the family, I felt a slight twinge of sadness.  My little girl is indeed growing up, and nothing I do will stop that.

So I’d better get on board this train and ride it, because the journey is just going faster and faster, and I’d better enjoy it while I can.