Our First Grand Expedition!

We love Pax's new school! Mostly, we love his new teacher and his whole entire crew!!! He's going to an Expeditionary Learning School - which is based on a lot of the principals of Outward Bound. Part of the curriculum is to learn through experience and field work. His brave and enthusiastic teacher took the crew out for a major field work expedition to search for bugs and experience team work and camaraderie. Boy oh boy did we find bugs!! The big surprise of the day was stumbling on praying mantis! Big ones too!

After exploring through the tall grass, we headed to the beach to get wet and dirty and feel the earth in our hands. The kids engaged with each other as though they had known one another for years. (remind you, this was the second week of school. Most of these kids had just met) They built together, dug together and laughed together. It was incredible and as a parent, I feel so fortunate to know this is my guy's introduction to a lifetime of curiosity and accomplishment.

We're all looking forward to the next outing!!!

1st Day of Kindergarten

Right now I don't have any words. My emotions are just a little too high. So I will simply post some pics and try to gather myself.

All the busy-ness kept me going for most of the morning, but it was walking home... it was the pace of lonely steps and the absence of a tiny hand that hit me. It was not stopping every few feet to look at a flower or a bug. It was the silence, the lack of "mommy, look..." That's what got me.

So now I watch the clock in anticipation of an after school hug and I look at pictures of freckles and I feel my heart sinking and my throat lumping and I look forward to the tales of the day. Come on 3:45.