Author: pazmeyer

again

Gwyneth liked kindergarten so much she decided to go back again. She is not at all a morning person (she is soooooo grouchy in the morning. My kind of girl!) but she has popped right up the last two days. Let’s hope this continues because we can only have one crabby person in the morning around here and I’ve already called it!
 

first day

The first day of school has finally arrived. Gwyneth has been waiting patiently (well, maybe not patiently) for kindergarten since the very first day she saw Annabelle get off the school bus. She has been so excited and the day was finally upon us. She had trouble falling asleep last night and had a few jitters, but I was amazed at her confidence and eagerness.  She wouldn’t even let us drive her to school. She had to take the bus. And since we are rational non-overbearing parents, we let her and then proceeded to follow the bus to school so I could get pictures of her in her class (well, maybe not rational).
 
1st grade for Annabelle. She was confident, excited, and very eager to show her sister the ropes. She helped her swipe her bus pass, held her hand in to school, and walked her to her classroom. I’m so proud of her and my heart was so happy to watch her be so kind. I asked if I could snap a picture of her in her new classroom and she begrudgingly obliged. She did tell her dad there would be no hugs in front of her friends. She got way too cool for us way too fast.
 
Bittersweet:
Rockin’ the toothless first grade photo. Perfection:
 Off to kindergarten:

When I had to reached my breaking point of bickering this summer, they go and do this:
THE BUS!!! Can you tell Gwyneth is just a bit excited?!

I actually beat them to school and I’m glad I did because I got to see them walking in hand in hand. Are they trying to make me cry???? C’mon!

Clearly not pleased with me but absolutely necessary 1st grade photo. She has her own little desk this year. Such a big girl.

Circle time in kindergarten.

Gwyneth already has a friend in her class. She was so excited that Jenna has the same teacher. It’s going to be a good year for these gals!

They had a great first day of school! We got throw right in to our new fall routine with the first day of school and Gwyneth’s first day of dancing school on the same day. She was a little tired, but she loves dancing school and wouldn’t miss it.

 Annabelle has homework every night now in 1st grade. Oh boy! Between activities and school work they are going to wear me out. Luckily tonight’s was a fun project where Annabelle got to introduce herself to her teacher and her new classmates.

I didn’t want to run back and forth so we sat at the dance studio and worked on homework. If you need to find me….your best bet is at the dance studio. I think they are giving us cots so we can live there.

sea dragon

Last day of summer vacation! Where in the world did this summer go? It felt hectic, busy, and went by entirely too fast. I wanted to do more with the girls but we were able to sneak in a few trips, a few days at the pool, lots of dancing and laughing so I certainly can not complain.
 
Today was YaYa’s last day here too so we made the most of it. Season ticket holders at Elitch’s were able to bring in one friend for free today so we squeezed in one last day at the amusement park. Thanks to YaYa for coming to visit us!
 
Too cool for school….

I don’t even know what to say about these girls:
Who likes the Sea Dragon? This Girl!
Annabelle and YaYa sat in the very top row!

front teeth

We had a lazy day at home with YaYa and worked on crafts. The girls were just happy to play and have her here. Annabelle even lost her second front tooth just in time for the first day of first grade.
 

shuffleboard

We hosted a toned down version of our shuffleboard tournament this year. And by toned down I mean no kids, fewer teams, lots of food, more cupcakes, more trash talking and probably a bit more trouble. When the kids are away, the parents will definitely play! And by parents I mean me…and by play I mean I lose my mind and act crazy!!
 
My mom took our girls to see Wizard of Oz live so they were thrilled while B and I prepared to destroy our friends at shuffleboard. Let’s be honest here, I carried our team. I was on fire. The tournament was mine to win. And then B started throwing. It was not his night and he took our team down. I’m not bitter or anything….but I am excepting applications for a new teammate next year.
 
It really was a fabulously fun night and thanks to all our friends who had to get sitters (and for those who didn’t) and came out to play! And a big Congrats to Lance and Sheila, this year’s winners.  My name WILL be on that trophy next year.
 
I may have gone a bit overboard with the cupcakes. I just really like making them….and then forcing everyone to eat them. This year we had strawberry covered chocolate with milk chocolate frosting, vanilla with vanilla bean frosting, and carrot cake with cream cheese frosting with walnuts: 

Chef B made all the snacks which was basically a world tour of dips – olive tapenade, hummus, bruschetta, pesto, seven layer dip, French onion dip, tangy ranch dip. So flippin’ delicious!!

These are my favorites. Besides losing the tournament for me, he’s a good man to have around.
Congrats to the winners!
Reigning champ not so happy!
Amy, Sheila, and Misti
Good time with the gals
Happiness
Great night! Thanks everyone for coming out.

circus

Annabelle had her first camp out with her Daisy Troop this evening. And when I say camp out I mean a tent in the backyard. And when that doesn’t work out I mean all the girls in sleeping bags in the living room. And that is what I call a good time camping!!
 
Just one little Gwyneth all to ourselves and we got tickets to take her to the circus. She loves the circus and was so excited. She had lots of treats including a heaping helping of cotton candy. She had us cracking up as usual and we really enjoyed our evening.
 

Love, love, love this picture.

class assignment

The big day arrived — which classes would the girls be in?!??!
 
Here is the face you get when Gwyneth does NOT get Annabelle’s kindergarten teacher. She had her heart set on the same teacher. She was comfortable with her and knew her well. She is trying to smile through it but I know she was disappointed.
 

We quickly turned this frown upside down when she found out her sweet little friend is in her class and the teacher she did get is very loving and gives lots of hugs and is wonderful. Gwyneth is going to be just fine next year.

 
This is the look of a girl who got the teacher she wanted but found out her two bff’s are not in her class next year. Oye!  She does have friends in her class and is excited to meet some new kids so she’s going to be just fine too. Let’s just say this day was a exciting but a little rough for them.
 

They both got great teachers and have some friends in their classes so we are going to have a great year!

last day

Gwyneth’s last day of pre-school. Any time I feel sad because she is growing up too fast she quickly flashes this smile and tells me about her big plans and I dry my eyes and laugh with this gal.
 

She sure does like being the baby of the family but she is not content being a baby! She is ready for kindergarten, but she will miss her friends and teacher from preschool. We had such a great experience at this school and we really appreciate all they did for both her and Annabelle.

 We picked her up before lunch per her request and headed to Subway also per her request. She wanted to try something new and decided her and Annabelle needed to share a footlong meatball sub. They loved it. I never would have thought…

Then we stopped off for haircuts and new shoes for school. They both just got trims because they want to grow their hair out. Yes, they are both growing their hair out. Yes, Gwyneth with her super long hair informed me that it was far too short for a five year old going in to kindergarten. When it reaches her ankles perhaps she will be happy?

Annabelle has requested Rapunzel hair….I like to braid, but that may be a little ridiculous.

 Then we stopped off for Gwyneth’s bus pass. What the what???? Bus pass! There is no stopping this girl. She is ready for the bus. She has been waiting to get on that bus since Annabelle’s first day of kindergarten!

elitch’s

B’s last day in the school kitchen was yesterday. That certainly went by quickly! He’s an awesome cooker (as the kids call him) and it’s amazing how much he learned. He had one day off and then heads back to the kitchen tomorrow….only this time it’s at his externship. We’re keeping our fingers crossed that he’ll bring some leftovers home from work for us.
 
We spent the day at Elitch’s and it was surprisingly crowded. The girls don’t have a lot of patience for lines so we spent most of our day in kiddie land where they could hop on and off rides, one after the next.
 
We had a quick dinner downtown just in time to sit in rush hour traffic. Forget that noise. The girls inherited their patience from me, which means none of us have any and I wasn’t about to sit in the car in traffic. We were right across the street from the aquarium and that seemed a far better idea. We did a quick trip through, got some fancy tattoos, and then headed home well after traffic had died down. FABULOUS!
 

From Elitch’s to the aquarium. Good day.

shaw park

We spent a little time at the park this morning to get some wiggles out before boarding our airplane. We had relatively pleasant weather for our trip –if you know me, you know how important weather is for a good trip. We were able to spend a lot of time outside and didn’t sweat away in the humidity. Perfection!
 
The girls had a blast at the park and were sad to leave St. Louis. Annabelle got a surprise at the airport when we saw her friend from dancing school was on our flight home. She was so excited to see her, but a bit bummed they couldn’t sit together on the airplane.
 
We really had a great trip and now the official countdown starts for kindergarten and 1st grade.