OtterPops: Back in the Swing of Things

Whole crew Gilroy Gardens

Right after school started we went to Gilroy Gardens as a family (plus Greg & Maren) thanks to the generosity of our neighbor who gave us his employee passes again. This was Lillian's request for how to spend her birthday. Everyone survived the heat and crowds and we even ventured into the water park portion at the kid's request. It was totally overrated and good to know we won't be doing that again. The aquatics center in town is far superior and less crowded.

Of course, on her actual birthday Lillian started out the day with the traditional breakfast in bed. Beyond that she requested swimming at the rec center, breakfast for dinner and a "ladybug" cake. Greg and Maren joined us for dinner and cake and then she went home with them for a VIP sleepover at their apartment. She seemed excited but I was a little nervous about how she would do without any siblings accompanying her. She did awesome and practically strutted to the car the next morning when I picked her up, holding her purse that Maren helped her make on her new sewing machine. It had "Lillian" embroidered right on the front heart pocket and it sounded like they had a blast!

Otter crew preparing for paddle boats

Lillian blowing out candles

6 year old Lillian with cake

Birthday Breakfast in Bed

And, here are the girls on the first couple days of school. Yes, we started back into school already and we are ALL adjusting to waking up early and getting out the door again. Jocelyn is in 2nd Grade and Lillian is in 1st grade. We have very positive reports and hopes for both of their teachers which I am thrilled about. A very significant aspect of this year is that the girls are on the same school schedule which means we aren't doing three different drop off times to school every morning. We can just take the girls in the morning and then Jonas to preschool a little later.

And, another significant change is that I have signed up (and paid) for the girls to take the bus home which means I can leave Emma napping while I walk around the corner to pick them up from the bus stop. They were a little nervous (as am I) so we have eased them into the process to help it go smoother. At first I just walked over and showed them which bus they would be taking, introduced them to the bus driver and then brought them home in the car, then helped them board the bus and picked them up on the other end. Then, I told them they were on their own but secretly went to watch from a distance to make sure they stuck together and made it to the right bus.

As I was watching from a distance where I could see both of their classroom doors I suddenly, out of the corner of my eye, see two girls running like their lives depend on it to the correct bus. Mind you, this was 3 minutes before the school bell even rang and they had obviously not exited out of their classroom doors. I was stumped and simultaneously cracking up. I called Jared and told him I couldn't wait to find out what the story behind this little escapade would be!! I had to play it cool thought because they didn't know I had been spying on them. When I picked them up at the bus stop it was obvious they were pretty proud of themselves so I told them I was so proud of them as well! Then casually asked how boarding the bus went. They said they were the 1st ones on the bus so I (in a very surprised tone) asked them.."Oh, how did you manage that?"

Apparently, Lillian had expressed to her teacher earlier in the day that this would be her first time boarding the bus without her mom and she was a little nervous. Her teacher kindly offered to work out a plan with Jocelyn's teacher so they could both be comfortable. Jocelyn's teacher agreed to send the teacher's aide over with Jocelyn to help pick up Lillian from her classroom and let them exit through the cafeteria together before the bell even rang. It was so cute of the girls and SO kind of the teachers. I was relieved that it all went well and especially that the girls hadn't cooked some sort of elaborate scheme to both escape class early somehow!!