First day of school 2010

We now have two Lincoln Lions! The girls could not be more excited to be back to school and Mom and Dad (and Judy) are all thrilled as well. I'm pretty sure Jani is the only one who loves the lack of structure in our circle ;-).





The big "get ready" item this year was the book bag. This year Ashton was insistent that she did not want a backpack but a more age-appropriate messenger bag. She found the perfect one at her new favorite store Justice

The day started by dropping off Ashton at 8:30am. She was thrilled to find friends in her class that she knew and everyone was looking ready and happy taking their obligatory photo for mom.


Next we went back home to get Jacqueline ready for her "late bird" drop off. She had to wear her fancy "cherry dress" and could not have been more excited. The teacher let the parents come into the classroom and get settled and she had spots on the floor marked out for each of the kids. Jacqueline put her bookbag away as requested and found her spot on the floor.

The rule is that each child is to stay in their own square which is harder than it sounds when you are wearing a cherry dress!



After an hour and a half it was time for early pickup. Jacqueline's teacher helped the kids find their parents. We are all thrilled as can be with her teacher. She is smart and sweet but very much in charge of the class. I have no idea how you do that, especially while having a very quiet and measured voice. I'm not going to suggest there is pharmaceutical help or anything, I'm just going to say I could never do that myself.
Next, we picked up Ashton and went to lunch to recap the day which all agreed was a great success.

Girls being cute

This is a post of a couple recent strike a pose moments. This is Jacqueline practicing for their statue pose.
Here is the statue pose -- John and Charlie's back yard just seemed to be missing something with that statue all by itself, the girls were there to lend a helping hand to that situation.
This is how I found Jacqueline after I stopped by the house to check on something. It seems the driver seat is more usable when you put a booster up front.
Here is a typical Saturday afternoon -- getting out of the swimsuit is a challenge. In fact, often Jacqueline wears swimwear around the house with or without any hope of swimming. Today she decided to add a pair of boots and to lay on mom's pillow while using dads iPod touch to play games. You will notice that the shoes are still often on the wrong feet. I figure if she doesn't complain who am I to switch them.

Dentist

In the last couple years it's worked out that Bob (and Judy) have done the dentist trips. This year both girls were excited to go. I guess it helps that their dentist has mastered all the tricks, toys, movies, purple chairs.
Jacqueline, of course, had to wear a dance outfit (thanks again Gabriella!) and strike a pose in her pink chair. I'm not entirely sure if this was before of after we discovered a cavity (ugh!)
As you might expect Ashton has the whole thing figured out -- notice Jacqueline in the background using the chair as a jungle gym.. ?
Thankfully, Ashton's teeth all checked out -- Jacqueline is going to need to get used to dentists as her mouth seems a bit small for all her teeth so I'm guessing that's going to be a fun time as she grows.

Uncle Bill and Christina Visit

It's always a treat when we get to see the Chicago relatives. We just don't do that enough. Bill had a conference in the city and came to visit us -- and yes I think they are even better when there is no long flight with the kids to make it happen ;-).

What was especially nice this year is that Christina and her girlfriend Ashley came out too. The girls were thrilled to see cousins. In our household cousins are celebrity material for sure.
We didn't do much, had a few nice meals, walked around the downtown art fair and just caught up. Christina and Ashley are off to college next year -- how the heck did *that* happen so quickly?