Biking the Spring Run Trail

Enjoying some active time outside with friends!

LittleL.G: Preschool Open House and Dance Class

Today we got to meet LittleL.G.'s preschool teacher and play at the classroom for a while during her preschool's open house. It was nice for her to have a chance to meet some of her classmates, get to know the teacher, and spend some time in the room. MiniM.E. seemed to enjoy being back at her old preschool, and BabySlimJim seemed like he was ready to go to school too!

Another first for LittleL.G. today: ballet and tap at dance class. Now that she is almost four, her dance class includes tap. She's been tapping around our house with MiniM.E. forever and was so excited to finally be able to change her shoes halfway through class.

An Activity Filled Weekend

With a big first week behind us one would think we would choose a restful weekend at home, but instead we filled our weekend with fun stuff and crammed in a little yard work and school prep too!

Saturday was Malta Community Day. The weather couldn't have been more perfect for walking around outside and doing fun things like riding ponies, holding snakes and climbing in fire trucks.

 
Sunday afternoon we took advantage of the weather by heading up to the Great Escape. Getting there later in the day there were no lines! The kids jumped on all their favorite rides, including BabySlimJim.

They were also having Oktoberfest activities at the park so we played some games, listened to a polka band, and had fun with the festive jewelry.

Week One: Done!

Okay, so it was only half a week. For the beginning of school, it was plenty! And we made it through. I would call it a successful week of getting back into the swing of things. We are all tired from the change in schedule and buckling down to learn, but happy with the way things are going so far. 

I am liking having our mornings free for activities like meeting friends at the playground.

Today as a reward for making it through the week we headed over to Gavin Park after dinner since the girls have been wanting to play tennis with Daddy. I took BabySlimJim to the playground instead.
This daredevil bravely tackled every slide in the place. By himself! I didn't get many photos because I was frantically chasing him to make sure he didn't catapult himself off  the big kid climber.

School: Day Two

Today was not quite as successful as our day one. The reality of school being our new everyday set in for MiniM.E. and even though she did school, it was begrudgingly. Everyone started the day a bit tired out from the extra mental taxation of focusing yesterday, and since LittleL.G. hasn't started school yet, we are still suffering from "all-sister-all-the-time" syndrome.

BabySlimJim didn't nap long enough today because he's cutting molars, so everyone was done with school, up from naps and ready to do something... but it was miserable and raining out. 

So I shoved them out the door into the rain. Definitely turned our mediocre day around!

The First Day of School 2018

Today we officially started back at school in our house. We did the yearly photos with both girls, even though LittleL.G. won't start preschool until next Wednesday. You never know when kids are going to be up for photos so we had to take advantage of the beautiful morning and two out of three cooperative kids.

We are switching things up a bit this year: the biggest change is that LittleL.G. will be away three mornings a week, which will give MiniM.E. a bit more time to work on school and have her baby brother time and gives LittleL.G. a very important something that is just hers to do. We'll also do the majority of our schooling in the afternoon while BabySlimJim naps. Not really my style- I like to get things done early, but the beauty (and sometimes annoying nature) of homeschooling is the ability to change around the day to suit our needs. We are looking forward to a great year of preschool and second grade!

To celebrate day one (before it even really started), we headed out for a morning at the spray park since it was HOT here today.

BabySlimJim foiled our plans a bit by falling asleep in the car on the way home, but overall I would call it a successful day

The Last Day Before School

To celebrate the last day before we start school this year we went to a new beach spot, Lake Luzerne, with our friends. MiniM.E. has been a bit sentimental this year about not being able to see her friends while they are in school. In reality, none of her close friends actually go to the elementary school she would go to anyway, but I think she feels the separation more because we still see her friends' moms and siblings throughout the year while they are at school. So MiniM.E. was very glad to have one last day with one of her best friends before school starts again.