First Day of School

I'm taking a break from blogging about camp to blog about Cael's first day of school. Grandparents want to know about these things! All week Gus and I have been in amazement that our little Cael is old enough to go to school. We've talked a lot about it with him and what he can expect and he has been so very excited. Last night we made his snack and set out his clothes. He took a shower and got into bed early. And through all of it, he kept saying that he couldn't believe it was tomorrow. And that he was just so excited! This morning we were all up earlier than we've been in a while to start the 20 minute walk to school. We were there a bit early. And I had to grab some pics outside his school. Here he is, so excited!!

He's holding in this pic and has strapped to his back in the below pic his little snack sack. They only go to school for a few hours each morning and are home for lunch. So everyone takes a snack in these cloth bags that double as a backpack...

And after our little photo session, we headed to the administration building with all the rest of the new parents. Here we are waiting for further instructions...

Coen hanging out in his stroller

And then the Principal and Dean came in to give us instructions. They called everyone up by grade and told them where their child's classes were and gave them the opportunity to take them to the actual classroom. Yay!

Our first introduction to this very cool classroom was while the rest of the kids were still outside on the playground. Cael thought all of the toys (Especially the little tiny Legos!!) were pretty cool and quickly explored his new classroom.

Pretty soon the rest of the class came inside. His teacher is SUPER nice and very kind. She has been with these kids one year already and will stay with them this year and even next. I love that! Cael was shy but went and sat with the other kids. I was glad he didn't start crying like one of the boys who threw himself on the ground and started screaming for his mother. Yikes! I don't think I could have handled that one. But Cael did really well and thus began his school career.

A few hours later we stood outside waiting with the rest of the parents for dismissal. His class was first and they all came out with balloons. He was very excited and told us he loved it! His teacher said he did really well and was very well behaved. Phew! She said he didn't say much nor really play with any of the kids during the outside time, but that's totally normal and ok. He doesn't speak Spanish yet so we expected this. But he said he really enjoyed it and didn't seem to be bothered about the language gap. Double phew! I was thankful the teacher even noticed those things and was very optimistic about it with reasonable expectations. We are meeting with her on Monday and I'm excited about getting to know her more and getting involved with his classroom. Praise the Lord for a successful first day of school!!!

Earlier this week we asked Cael what he wanted to eat for lunch (which is our main meal of the day that I cook) and he told us. I think he was just as excited about all of the yummy food which I started preparing last night as he was about going to school. As we walked back from school he told us all the fun things he did-coloring, eating his snack, standing in lines, etc. and we told him that we had a huge surprise for him when he got home! He's been asking for a pet since we got here. At first we were waiting until our apartment was settled. But then we were waiting for the right moment. After we dropped him off we went to the store and bought him a fish! Something he asks about every time we walk by the fish store. I didn't take a picture of it but he was VERY excited about it!!!

Then we made a meal completely comprised of his wishes. Which included...

Salad WITH CRUTONS

Chocolate cake

Eaten, of course, on this very special plate...

Even Coen was pretty excited!

Hamburgers and fries. (BTW these were the best fries. I'll post the recipe later)

Here is the big boy with his brother! We were so proud of him today!!