First Day of School 2013

We've had quite the busy last few days. Patrick and I just got back very late last night from Boston. We had a little scare. Our first flight from Boston to St. Louis was delayed by an hour, but thankfully, they held our second flight from St. Louis to San Antonio until we could get there (they waited for seven other people also). I would have been very upset if I had missed the kids' first day of school!

We set the alarm for 6am since Eric needs lots of time to eat breakfast. For some reason, the alarm didn't go off, and we didn't wake up until 6:15 or so. I sat next to Eric to remind him to keep eating and it worked out. He had his clothes already ready and he didn't take a long time to brush his teeth. We were a little surprised he didn't choose a dinosaur shirt, but he has so many shirts that it's nice he seems to like most of them. We both took him to the bus stop.

Eric's friend Liam was there at the bus stop. Liam used to be in Eric's PreK class in daycare because Liam is a big boy. He is a few months younger than Eric, however, and was just starting Kindergarten this year. Liam was not too happy about being there. Eric, on the other hand, was relaxed and excited and talking animatedly with his friend John Daniel, who is also our neighbor and who is going into the third grade. There was only one other little girl at the bus stop this morning. We think that most of the kids were driven to school today.

No problems at all on the first day for Eric. He got off the bus okay this afternoon and for the first time, when I asked him if he had learned anything today in school, instead of saying, "Yes" he said, "No." I told him that was okay for the first day since he and his teacher were just getting to know each other. He had Rainbow Sherbet for an after school snack and proceeded to play Dinosaur Star Wars upstairs in the game room.

Natalie was next. Eric's bus picked him up at 7:04am (scheduled) and Natalie's bus was supposed to get to the same bus stop at 7:31am. She has to wear a uniform to school this year. Apparently they can wear a "spirit shirt" any time also, but she didn't get to buy one last week when she was in Cub Camp since we weren't around to give her money. So, she wore her white polo shirt today and some of the other kids at the bus stop wore their "spirit shirts".

I was surprised when we were shopping for school uniforms and she picked out skorts to wear to school instead of shorts. We got her a couple of pairs of shorts too, but for this girl that doesn't usually wear skirts or dresses, skorts were a surprise. Natalie thankfully let me take pictures of her this morning. As a concession to her, I did not wait with her at the bus stop and I only took one picture of her at the bus stop, really before the other kids got there. I also did not meet her at the bus stop this afternoon. She's been able to walk the short distance to our house from the bus stop for a year now, so I figured she would be okay.

Alex is happy he doesn't have to wear a uniform this year. Patrick questions Alex's choice in footwear often, but I like that he knows what he likes and that he has his own style. Interestingly, he took Natalie's old Libby Lu drawstring bag to school today. I guess it went with his pink shoes.

He had to get another student ID today. When he went to a movie with Grandma and the other kids last week, he thinks he left his wallet at the movie theatre. He took it upon himself to call the theatre, but of course they said they didn't have it. He texted Patrick about this, but of course we couldn't do much from where we were. Luckily Alex didn't have much money in there, but he also lost his Fiesta Texas season pass.

Oh, and another note about his facial expression in this picture. He willingly went outside with me so I could take the picture, but he wanted to look serious in the photo. That was fine with me, he's a cutie either way. :)

Both Natalie and Alex spent a couple of hours in an "advisory period" at the beginning of school where they straightened out schedules and such. The first day of school doesn't usually involve a lot of actual class work, although apparently Alex already has homework.

We gave them their choice for dinner and they chose Chipotle--easy enough. We ordered through their phone app and Patrick picked it up. The order was ready and already paid for when he got there. Hopefully the rest of this first week will go as uneventfully. I'll try to blog about our Boston trip in the next few days.