Big Day

Today was Autumn's first day of kindergarten. We got ready last night with a bath, clothes set, bag packed and lots of excited anticipation. We read "The Night Before Kindergarten" and it was not unlike Christmas Eve given her excitement level.

Autumn and Joshua headed happily out the door at 12:20pm for the 12:32 bus. We took lots of pictures in front of the house and then headed to the end of the driveway to wait and look for the bus up the road.

Patience is not Joshua's strong suit.

Finally at 12:45 bus #17 arrived. Autumn happily hopped aboard and somehow I kept it together as I walked back up the driveway and into the house with Joshua. I think she and I were both ready for her to reach this milestone.

She came home full of smiles and stories and said "I can't WAIT to go back tomorrow!" The favorite part of the day was the bus ride. She was sitting in the front seat on the way home and later revealed that she talked to the bus driver almost the entire 25 minute. Chris and I both laughed and rolled our eyes at that conversation..."If you go down that road my friend Sydney lives there, and if you go straight on that road it takes you to my Daddy's work, and this is the way we go to the Promenade from my house...." But the driver was very sweet and waved and said "Bye Autumn!" when she got off the bus.

We celebrated her homecoming with cookies and milk and stories about Mrs. Oakes and her day. She is going to have a great year!

Down the shore

We enjoyed one last summer hurrah in Ocean City, NJ over the weekend. We headed down Sunday morning and had a gorgeous day. The beach was mobbed as the second to last weekend before Labor Day but we found a primo spot to plant our umbrella.

The water was a warm 76 degrees and felt really nice.

We found some shade under the music pier.



We hit some rides on the boardwalk Sunday night. The kids didn't hesitate to go up on this humongous ferris wheel...meanwhile the 10 year old behind us panicked at the last minute and got out of line. It didn't phase them but we WERE up high.

High above Ocean City we could see for miles.

We woke up Monday morning to drastically cooler temps. But by late morning it was warm enough to head to the beach for some shell collecting. Well, that was the plan. Autumn ended up wading right back into the water, fully dressed, to jump in the waves. The pull of the ocean.

Joshua strutting his stuff on the beach.

We stopped for custard on the boardwalk for one last treat before heading home. We all had a great time and promised the kids we'll stay a bit longer next year.

We're so proud