In what seemed like the blink of an eye, our fantastic summer came to an end and it was time for school to begin. This was a big year for us… Katelyn was heading off to middle school and Brooke was starting 1st grade which meant she would be at school all day instead of the fabulous half days we loved in Kindergarten.
I was so sad about them being gone but I put on a brave face because I was excited for them and I knew they were excited too. Emily didn’t like the idea of them “going back to school,” but she did like the idea of being able to go through their stuff at her leisure, so that eased her mind a bit. This is a picture of them after school on the first day. They all humored me and let me take lots of pictures, but we didn’t get one with the three of them together until after school, thanks to the earlier start time of middle school.
Here they are on the morning of their first day…
Katelyn was super excited and we had a nice smooth morning. I was so glad she even happily let me take her picture.
I was also so happy that her BFF Sara came over before it was time to catch the bus so I could get a picture of them together. They’ve started every school year together and honestly, I think that was the only way I could happily send Katelyn off to the wolves sixth grade, was knowing that they would stick together and take care of each other. When the time came, Brooke was sad to see Katelyn go and their goodbye nearly did me in… but I held it together.
Emily slept right through all of the excitement and boy was she sad when she woke up and realized Katelyn was already gone for the day. Fortunately we had Brooke’s exciting morning to distract us and keep our spirits high.
Brooke was so excited for her big day and was glad she didn’t have to wait until the afternoon like she did for Kindergarten.
We were ready with time to spare, so the girls got to play together which made a nice start to the day for everyone.
Since it was rainy, we didn’t walk up to the school with all of our neighborhood friends. So when we arrived on the playground I could tell Brooke was starting to feel a little nervous. She wasn’t sure what to do without Katelyn being there, but within a few minutes, we saw some familiar faces and everything was fine.
It really melted my heart when I saw Brooke take Emily over to play on the equipment. I watched that same image with Katelyn and Brooke for five years, so it was sweet to watch it repeat itself with these two.
Before we knew it, the bell rang and we were headed to class. Emily wanted to walk with Brooke and fortunately, Brooke didn’t mind. She got settled and then it was time to go. She was doing great and I was so happy for her, that I was doing ok too. We stood at the door at watched her at her desk for just a minute (her back was to us). I was feeling really good and happy for her and just as I thought to myself how glad I was that she didn’t turn around to look for us, she did. She was still fine, but she had a little bit of that “Please don’t leave mom” look that I thought I was going to die. I quickly signed “I love you,” waved goodbye and in an instant, all the crazy that I had been suppressing bubbled up and runneth over and exited via my tear ducts. It was time to go. I quickly lowered my sunglasses, even though we were inside and got us out of there as fast as I could. I hate it when the damn bursts before you are home.
Emily and I had a nice day together and even took a little break to have lunch with a good friend. Good friends and chocolate milk shakes always make things better.
The next thing I knew, it was time to go pick up Brooke. I was thrilled to see a very happy first grader to come running to me. She had a great day and was happy about everything. We got a quick picture with Kara before we headed home to see how Katelyn fared at middle school.
We came home to a very happy sixth grader who also had a great day. I was so happy for both of them. We had a carpet picnic with their favorite treats and got to hear all about their big day. It was wonderful!
To finish off a great day, Jen, Ben and Bradley came by to say hi and let us take a picture of them all together. There is something so special about lasting friendships. It is crazy to think that these kids were Kindergarteners when they met and became best buddies.
I am so grateful for good schools, great friends and amazing kids. It is going to be a great and busy year!
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