First Day of Kindergarten!

I have to say, I'm kind of stunned.

After all my worries, all the fears that such a big change would be hard to take, Ava practically ran away from her dad and I to get to her first day of Kindergarten.

The morning began well - she woke up by herself, and even got herself dressed, without prompting, and before breakfast and cartoons. This is unprecedented. There were no last minute attempts to change outfit to a dress, nor complaints about wearing shoes instead of sandals. Again, unprecedented. It felt strangely as if she'd been doing this for months.

We did get some photos, and the Celebutant posing was about the only throwback to the Ava of the summer.

When it was finally time to leave for the school, she literally bolted! We had to keep telling her to slow down, and wait for Mom and Dad!

She picked the backpack herself. The tee shirt also. Also hippie purse, although I kind of like that one. As much as it pains me, she should be allowed some artistic expression.

Once she met her new teacher, Mrs. Fairchild, she was happy as could be and glommed on to her like the teacher's pet /pest she was meant to be. ( I knew she got some of my genes! Casey said if she'd been like him, she would have either hidden in a corner, or hit the other kids.) Ava stuck by Mrs. Fairchild's side, and introduced herself to others when Mrs. Fairchild went to meet them! (yeah, ok, BIG teacher's pet.) Soon enough, it was time to line up, and say goodbye to Mom and Dad.

In a way, it was really anti-climactic! Or maybe I should say well organized and planned, and in perfect harmony with the personality traits of our little-miss-sociable.

We decided to let her have the full day - kindergarten, afternoon wondergarden, and a bit of the "kids club" afterschool program on the first day, so that she could meet everyone, and not be the odd-man-out on the second day. I was concerned that it might be too much...what if she'd had a melt-down mid day and now felt abandoned?

When we went to pick her up at 4:15, she saw us come in the door...and started pouting that she had to leave. That's our girl.

I Love my Mother in Law

She watches my daughter 3 days a week in the summer (at her house), and wishes it were 5.

She babysits on weekends. She'll drive an hour to come to our house to do this.

She openly wonders how her son managed to get such a fine wife.

She buys me goofy dish towels, and handy kitchen gizmos.
She came over and spent one weekend helping me strip, sand, and varnish 24 cabinets/drawers in 85 degree weather.

She came two weeks later for another weekend to help me prep and then paint the kitchen. Hell, she did MOST of the prepping and painting herself!!

I love that woman.

The flash makes the cabinets and paint look a little weird...green is a bit more muted, and cabinets less shiny. But you get the idea. Not Architectural Digest, but not bad for what we had to work with!

Nature Walk

Jen was kind enough to take pity on me and my husband-less state a week ago, and suggested we meet up for a Nature Walk. We went to the Lloyd Stage Nature center in Troy, a place I'd never even heard of before, but it was really nice - especially for the purpose of doing a circuit with 5 and 6 year old nature lovers. Ava then invited herself over to Jen's house, to which Jen graciously accepted, and we all hung out for a bit. Very nice Saturday. Sure beats kitchen remodelling, which has seemed to be my life in August.

First Baseball Game

Thanks to Grandma Joan and Grampa John, Ava went to see her first Tiger's baseball game on August 29th. It started out a bit drizzly, but not too bad. Ava loved all the people in the stands that she could talk to, and younger kids to smile and make faces with. She was also bound and determined to get some ice cream out of the adventure.

Here she is transitioning from the faux-unhappy face that she's been so fond of lately, to laughing. You will note that she's not exactly in the best positon to be watching the game.

After about three or four innings, the ice cream man still hadn't come by, so we went off to explore the other delights of Comerica Park, including the Ferris wheel. I was really stunned and amazed at the dearth of ice cream vendors....we covered a good 1/4 of the perimeter without so much as a popsicle to be found.

We did finally find one near the ferris wheel, though we had to "settle" for scoop ice cream in a waffle cone, instead of the desired ice cream bar. Life is full of disappointments, I know.

The ballpark also provided Ava with a first-time fan certificate, and a poster of her "favorite" Tiger, Justin Veerlander. Granted, it's the only Tiger she knows, but not a bad choice...and I always thought he looks a lot like Casey, if Casey had facial hair. I hate to even write that line, because knowing Casey, it's like daring him to grow some ridiculous facial hair.

Tigers did well, and we wound up getting out of there just in time before the rain started coming down, and the sugar started wearing off.