Labor Day Weekend

This past weekend was Labor Day.  Official last weekend of summer vacation for many.  Last chance to travel, camp and bask in summer.  In keeping with our theme of the summer, we stayed home.  We relaxed. Matt worked on his vehicle.

Natalie and I went to the Farmer's Market and Goodwill on Saturday morning and made a good haul.  

A pair of little milk glass flower pots from Goodwill 99 cents each and some of the sunflowers we picked up at the market.

The sweet afghan I picked up for 3.99, easily big enough to cover a twin size bed, and a sliver of the gingham check napkins I got the set of 4 for 99 cents.

A cute little picture that says "tea time" for 49 cents.

The kids got to play with their friends from next door.

Our big girls racing down the road.  Full speed ahead.

The little neighbor girl (she's Joey's age) trying her best to catch up to the big girls.

The kids made up a new game with the baby swing that I'm not entirely sure about.

We went to church on Sunday morning then to my dad's for some burgers and fixings with my brother and his family.  Joey and I made an impromptu pizza with our yummy fresh tomatoes and basil from the market while Matt and Natalie sneaked away for a little fishing trip.

The weather was beautiful.  Definitely more summer than fall.  But its coming.  See the leaves on the ground in the picture above?  There are more today and lots more to come.

Kindergarten Practice

Tuesday was Kindergarten orientation at Natalie's school.  We were so excited.  She had her clothes picked out, backpack packed and lunch ready and in the fridge the night before.    

She was a little bit bummed that she wasn't getting picked up by the bus on the first day, but pretty glad that Mom was there to schlep all her stuff into the school.

We found her classroom at the far end of the hallway and went in to find a room filled with the excited/nervous energy of 23 Kindergarteners and their parents.  

We met her teacher and a few of the other Kindergarten teachers, the Principal, the lunch lady and the secretary.  

We went on a practice bus ride.  This must have been Natalie's favorite part of the day because she decided that she wanted to be the last one off the bus.  She missed her transfer at the Middle School and wound up riding her bus all the way to the end of the route and back to the bus garage.  She thought it was pretty fun, but a little scary.  Apparently, she wasn't the only Kinder with this plan because there were several of them (and students from other grades) waiting for their parents at the bus garage when Matt got there to pick her up.

All in all, it was a good day.  My girl was brave.  There were so many new things and she just jumped right in.  We can't wait for school to start for real next week.

Oh, and she was really tired when she finally got home.