First Day

Monday marked Lexi's first day of Pre-K!
We were up and at 'em early -
with plenty of time for a few first day of school pictures.
Our little drive over takes us through the SMU (Southern Methodist) campus.
It's sort of like life full circle,
as the college kids and fraternity houses whizz past us on our way to preschool.

Oozing with sass ;)

So far, her sweet class has enjoyed Spanish, Gym and Art class.
They have been so excited to meet the class pet, Hermie, the hermit crab.
A new snack is delivered each day, and Lexi loves filling me in on what they had.
Monsters and family seem to be the popular playground games,
and Lexi has asked the past two days to stay after for lunch bunch,
so hopefully that's a sign that she is acclimating well to her brand new school.
We ran into a school buddy at Chick-fil-A Monday, which took the excitement to a whole new level.
And next week marks the start of carpooling with her classmate, Carter.
As for Ryleigh, she makes a beeline for the sand table each day at pickup...
I think she'd love to stay as well if given the choice!

Meet the teachers

Tomorrow is Lexi's first day of school!
Not sure how in the world it came quite so fast -
but Pre-K 4's...here she comes.

We spent much of June and July
deciding which school would be the best fit.
We already had her registered for one over in Preston Hollow.
In fact, that was the very first thing we did
when we found out we were moving.
And while it seems like a super sweet and strong program,
and even though Ryleigh will still go there once a week
for Parent's Day Out,
this momma just didn't think a 15 minute drive both ways -
5 times a week for a three hour school day - made much sense for anyone.

And so we talked with friends,
we talked with the kindergarten teachers at the elementary school
and we talked with neighbors.
Surprisingly, several schools still had spots available.
We went on a bunch of tours, we visited all the playgrounds,
we toured the classrooms and learned about the different curriculums.
In the end, it's still just Pre-K,
and so, we simply picked the school we thought Lexi would be happiest at.

It has been around for decades.
It has a really strong reputation.
It has many UP families that will all move on to the same elementary school next year.
If you ask Lexi, she'll tell you that it is really pretty and has several playgrounds!
And it also happens to be five minutes from the house :)

We had the chance to meet Miss Lauren and the class last week.
Ten kids total, many of them little girls,
including two "friends of friends"
We filled out our special "All About Me" info sheet.
We brought in our family picture like we were asked.
The children got to know each other and work on a craft
while the parents were briefed on all the policies and procedures.
Despite being shy when I dropped her off,
she seemed like she had acclimated well by the time I picked her up.
She was busy playing dress up with two other buddies when I peeked in the door.
And then she ran up to me with a huge smile.
Pre-K...here we come.
But not before a little Krispy Kreme celebration!

Vegas

Last weekend, I had the chance to sneak away for a little girl time in Vegas.

My college friend Kim's bachelorette party
gave me the perfect excuse to finally see what all the hype is about.

Two full days is just enough time to enjoy days out at the pool,
great dinners filled with music and singing
and then a few hours of dancing the night away.

Thank you, Vic, for holding down the fort so seamlessly while I was gone!!

(notice Ry's dress on backwards ;)

3,2,1 Jump

Last Saturday, Vic decided that Lexi needed some one-on-one time with us.
She loves her sister dearly,
and is usually very happy to work around Ryleigh's nap schedule
and let her tag along on play dates, at the playground, at the park, etc.
But every once in awhile,
it becomes clear that she's a little jealous of the attention Ry gets.
The game "family" was a popular one at preschool this year and during play dates,
and it seems that Lexi and her buddies all liked to pretend that they were the baby -
likely because of the younger siblings they have back at home.

Anyway, getting back to last weekend...
Lexi and I agreed that an outing with just the three of us was a wonderful and overdue idea.
So, we got a sitter for Ryleigh around dinner time.
And while they were busy enjoying some mac n cheese
and pushing around the baby doll stroller before bed,
Vic, Lexi and I hit up the neighborhood pool.

Our big girl decided she was ready to tackle the diving board.
Unlike our old pool in CT,
you can't go in with them in case they need a little convincing
or a little help swimming to the wall.
I wasn't sure if she'd have the nerve to do it - it's a fairly far swim.
But Vic climbed up the high dive, right next to her,
and before I knew it, they were counting down and jumping.

She took to it easily and confidently
(remember this is the girl who didn't like putting her face in the water in June)
and jumped again and again and again.
Even mom joined her on the high dive and relived some good o'le Cruiser Club days.
It was a blast for all three of us,

and it was awesome watching our little girl take on a new challenge.

Afterwards, we went to the shallower end and practiced our swimming,
had jumping contests off the wall, sat on the bottom of the pool,
dove for toys and threw Lexi super high into the air time and again (Vic).
Then, we took turns going down the water slide - just the three of us.
Alexis was on cloud nine.
In fact her quote earlier in the evening was, "The is going to be the most fun night - ever!"

She couldn't have been more happy, better behaved, more excited.
It reminded us just how important it is to make time for both of our girls,
to give each of them our undivided attention once in a while,
to make special plans with just mom and dad.
To say "yes, yes, yes" on a beautiful summer's night.
From the pool, we headed off for frozen yogurt and then pizza...in that order.
Because, why not?
We let Lexi stay up with us while we had a glass of wine and she watched one of her shows.
We snuggled on the couch.
We talked about our night and watched her diving board video over and over.
We listened to her - without interruption -
and I think it's safe to say that all three of us had a wonderful, memorable time!

We sent her off to bed promising to do it again once more before the summer fades away.

And of course we also need to plan something special for our sweet Ryleigh soon too!