How Tall This Fall?

We continued our tradition of going to a local apple orchard.  For me, it has almost become more about getting to see this picture and watch the changes over the years.  For the kids, it is still all about the apple sling shot and the corn bin.  And oh yeah, the apples.  Guest star this year from Sassy, the farm kitten.

Tiny Dancer

Julia started dance classes this week.  I am so excited for her to experience the joy that comes from dancing. Her teacher, Richard, has been teaching since I was a little girl, and although I didn't take from him, some of my friends did.  I chose him because, as he says "I keep it classy."  So many dance programs for little girls these days have them in dance competitions at Julia's age, traveling around to all-day or all-weekend competitions out of state and wearing costumes and full makeup that I don't want my daughter to be wearing at age five.  Julia was so excited to pick out her leotard and shoes, and she promptly came home and put the tap shoes on, delighted at the noise they made.  I am already looking forward to see her dance in her first recital next spring.

Ewok Village

AJ has his best buddy Ben over for a play date recently and the result was the above...a detailed plan for an ewok village in my backyard.  AJ said to me after Ben went home "So, do you think Home Depot sells PVC pipe big enough for a human to crawl through?!"

And They're Off!

Another school year has begun.  This one feels particularly hectic to me.  It is in part because the state passed a new law this year that school could not start before August 23.  As a result, instead of having a half week of school the first week to ease into things, we started with a full, five day week, which is harsh reality to our family at least that was used to relaxed bedtimes and wakeup times.  The change also mean that all of the kids activities, which are continuing to grow in number, started the same week that school did.  They had been scheduled in the past to start a week or two after school to let everyone settle into school first, but given the school calendar change, it now all lines up like the Big Bang.

The other big change at our house is that AJ is doing a full grade acceleration this year (or skipping a grade, as it used to be called.)  The school called us one week before the school year started and told us they thought this would be a good idea. It came out of the blue and caught us quite off guard.  The school had done some good testing in the spring with the Iowa Acceleration Scale and presented those results to us.  Joe and I weren't sure what to do.  We want AJ to be challenged in school but also highly value the friendships he has built this year.

The tipping point for me in the decisions was when we talked with AJ about it.  He gave an unequivocal "Yes! I definitely want to do that!" when I talked with him about the idea.  He said he wanted to be more challenged and thought it was cool that he would get to skip a grade.  Since we have made the decision, he has seemed to walk a little bit taller.  Cross your fingers for us that it all goes smoothly...

Last Hurrah

What do you do the Sunday before school starts again?  Head to the pool in Panora to hang out with Pops and be in denial that summer is over, of course!  Just one more week of summer, please.  I so wish that school started after Labor Day to wring every last drop out of summer fun.  Much has been written in pop culture blogs about how parents dread the start of the school year due to the homework, activities and general stress that comes with it.  As much as I love school, I can relate.  We are having a little bit of the end-of-summer blues over here.

Now Hear This...

Julia and I were flying home from Colorado when I realized that I had forgotten to pack headphones for her to use with the iPad on the airplane.  How did people travel with kids before electronic devices?  I am generally in the camp of limiting kids' screen time except when it comes to travel on airplanes.  And long car rides across Nebraska.  For airplane rides, it's go crazy and knock yourself out, as long as you are quiet and well-behaved in this extremely cramped space with many other people.  So we headed to the airport shop and discovered these ridiculously over-the-top bunny headphones  I was skeptical that they would work, but turns out these things are actually functional.  They are also great conversation starters.