Thankful Thursday - 299 (Kindergarten/Gangster Birthday/Pool Party)

Here we go! Into the swing of "real life" as it will be for the next 17 some odd years! School drop offs, pick ups, packing lunches daily, etc. It will only get crazier as the girls go off to school and everyone starts extracurriculars. The first two weeks of KG are just short days, ending at 12, so we all get the chance to ease in thankfully. 

This week I am thankful for...

1. A successful first week for Dom! Day one was obviously difficult as he was nervous, but once he settled in and made a friend he was good to go! Day two drop off was easy, and I half expect he's going to run off alone into class by next week! This boy loves routine and knowing what to expect, so the structure of school is right up his alley. It also means that home is a lot quieter. On Tuesday Emilia got to paint, listen to whatever audiobooks she wanted to, help me prep some oatmeal balls, and chat my ear off without big brother's interruption! 

Wheelia gets to start preschool next week!

A picture of all my babies?! Where they're all smiling?!

So I couldn't get a nice picture, but here he is after his first day!

2. O-Dawg Turned 1! We celebrated with Jeff, Marta, Owen, and their family and friends last weekend. They did such an awesome job with the party, decor, food, etc. and I appreciated the attention to detail! I also appreciated the keg and sangria :). 

She spent 15 minutes going in and out of these streamer things

I guess O needed some help blowing out the candle <3

Pressures of being the birthday boy haha

3. Last Day of Summer Pool Party! Thank you, Darcy for the invitation to a pool party/BBQ on the last day of summer vacation! It was the absolute perfect way to close out the summer and everyone had so much fun. Dom swam around with a pool noodle and life jacket most of the time, Eva kept trying to dunk herself, and Emilia cautiously built confidence throughout the swim time. 

Going "the secret way" behind the hot tub and gazebo

We went for a walk to Aunty Ashleigh's new work to visit the forest preschool and play for a bit! I think Eva was made for forest school. She got right in there digging in the dirt, playing with sticks, poking at trees, climbing everything...

See Eva nearly submerged? She had to be like this or else she wasn't happy. She preferred to be wriggling out of my arms trying to dunk her face, or being thrown up and dropped in the water barely keeping her above. She's a thrill seeker this one. 

Just missing two cousins for this picture!

4. BRAINS. Dom has a brain for numbers, puzzles, pattern recognition, etc. He taught himself basic addition and subtraction, and the other day we very briefly explained multiplication to him. He got it without blinking, and now asks me to write "times" out for him so he can practice. Who is this kid? 

On Wednesday I picked him up from school and on the way home this was the conversation...
D: Mommy, why do we play SO much at Kindergarten?
Me: Well what would you rather?
D: Learn something. All we do is play.
Me: Why do you want to learn instead of play?
D: I want to learn so I can know more stuff.

I had to explain to him that kindergarten is about learning how to be a student and how to be a good friend, etc. etc. We will have to continue our own learning at home apparently too haha. 

I love the backwards 6 :)

A few other moments: 

They all missed each other when Dom was at school. This was before school on day 2. Quick snuggles while pointing out people on the pictures on TV <3

Picture of the amount of personal space I get on an average moment on an average day.

She calls slides and swings, "Weee!"

He feels so big and important every time we walk up to school today <3

Drop off with 3 kids is easy when you get there early and play on the playground!

O-wee came for a playdate!

Emilia misses Dom so much during the day. She was so excited to pick him up from school! Waiting outside his classroom <3