One Month In

To say that school agrees with Ainsley is... well, it's the understatement of the year.

Ainsley loves school.

loves.

loves.

LOVES.

school.

She's so into the routine, the new stuff, the new places, the bus, the bus stop, recess, music class, art class, library, even PE.

She brought home her first permission slip for her first field trip the other day.  And then proceeded to hound us about returning it, and how it needed to be back ain, but also explaining the whole process of the permissions slip, and why they needed one, and where they were going, and when they were going, and how they were going to get there, and that she needed to bring a bagged lunch in her backpack (which is WAY different than the bagged lunch she brings in her backpack every other day, apparently), and when they will leave, and when they will be back, and the kinds of things they will do there, and... and... and... and....

Did I mention she loves school?

She even explained, with great detail and enthusiasm, about their "lockdown drill" that they practiced in PE earlier this week.  No point in getting emotional about it, it is what it is.  They do fire drills, they do weather drills, now they do lockdown drills.  We all hope they never have to use any of them, but at least they have some shared semblance of what to do.

She's also in a weekend art class at the Torpedo Factory's Art League. Did I mention she seems to love anything that resembles school?  Oh and now you include painting and drawing? We call that "jackpot." 

She's gotten so big in those little shoes of hers.  And doesn't seem to have any intention of looking back.  Which is not to say that she doesn't remember where she came from.  This past weekend, we finally got to have a playdate with a bunch of her pals from Abra.  Just like Harry does with his Abra buddies, they pick right back up where they last left off.  They're always so excited to see each other, but get them together in a group, and all bets are off.  It's a wonderful thing to have... and to still have...

...but of course.  It had to do with school.

Off we go

1st day of Kindergarten.  Everyone's been so excited to get on the bus.  Everyone was out on the porch by 6:45 (bus comes at 7:15). The jitters hit by about 7:05, but by 7:14, they were clearly gone, as the bus rumbled to a stop.  There wasn't even a glance back. Or a wave. Or any hesitation.  She's obviously been ready for this for a looooooong time.  To Harry's extreme big-brother credit, he sat right down with her in the front seat.  Off we go...

New Paradigm

So today marks the first, of what will hopefully be many, of Harry & Ainsley’s adventures together, but without one of us to accompany (and more importantly to document).  Today the local YMCA camps that each are attending, are coming together as a larger group with all of the YMCA’s around the region… they’re all piling on buses, heading across the river, for a big thing called Thingamajig.

This is really the first time that I’ve really come to the conclusion that I really wish one of them had a camera, a phone, something… What are they doing?  Where are they? Are they together? Are they having fun? 

It’s not that I’m worried about them, I’m sure they’re in great hands, and their counselors are wonderful (and even if there was a problem, Harry has become quite the shepherd for his little sister). I’m not sure that came across as me convincing myself or not… So back since about a month before Harry was born, I started this little blogging endeavor, and similarly for Ainsley.  Granted these days of 16 gazillion various social media outlets (yes I’m looking mostly at you, Facebook & Twitter), the entries have certainly fallen off a bit, but rest assured there’s a digital record somewhere of just about every event/happening/occurance/participation in varying levels of significance, from the last 9 years.

What will we have for THIS event?!?!?! 

The thing is, I feel pretty confident that 2 things will happen upon their return today… 1) neither of them will offer up a straight answer on what they did, did they have fun, etc, even when pressed, and 2) neither of them will remember (to the point of being able to recall) any of it by tomorrow.

Who’s taking pictures this time?  Who’s updating statuses? Who’s tweeting???

Wait… wtf just happened there?

so fast

It's amazing that we "finished" at Abra only 2 weeks ago.  For something we'd been doing for so long, all day every day, it seems like we've been gone forever.  With only a few minor hiccups along the way, Ainsley has certainly moved onto the next chapter.

She's "reading" (reciting) books to us at bedtime, she's off on her own at day-camps in new environments making friends and experiencing life as a Kindergartener.  As much as we'd anticipated, I don't think we expected the transition be such... well... a transition?!!

In deference to the inevitable aforementioned "hiccups" along the way, nothing that hasn't been recoverable yet.  Fortunately, when the 2-week swim camp went south on day 2 of 10, there was a way to make amends.  Another wonderful point has been her ability to interact with Harry during the day, in controlled doses.  She sees him here, bumps into him there, and moves on with her day.  She even sees his friends, an they report back to each other.  I'm thinking this will be a nice precursor to the brief time, that they'll ever be in the same school building.

Last Day at Abra

It's the end of an era for the McDermott family

The Big 5.

As seems to have become the custom, we were off to Disney...



To check in with some princesses...







To see a few old friends...



 











(it is, in fact, a small world after all)







Do some sightseeing...

 





And return home to get your ears pierced!







Happy birthday Ainsley!