School in Kansas starts way to early in my book ... way to early. We were home for all of two days when the kids started back to school. The girls on Wednesday, Sam on Thursday. Before leaving for MN, I got to take each of the three older ones school shopping, one on one, for their supplies. Mom really wanted me to be able to have some one on one time with each child and this outing seemed like a logically thing to do. And I was glad to see that they were each excited about going out with just mom, by themselves to choose their supplies.
Can I just make a small side comment here about the cost of supplies. We spent about $20 on each kids supplies. And this doesn't include Sam's backpack and lunch box which alone cost $25 - Becca and Emily are still using the backpacks we purchased for them when they started Kindergarten and so far, no complaints. And it's not like their supply list was outrageous or had unneccessary items on it, but wow it all adds up fast! Add to that the school fees for each of them - $126/child - and we're forking out some serious cash.
With three of them now in school all day, we're making a valiant effort to make lunches everyday (one of GR's many tasks in the AM with the kids). They are none to happy about not being able to buy their lunches, and so far the explanations of health and cost ($2 x 3kids x 5 days = $$ Mom would rather spend on other things) while tolerated, haven't been fully embraced. So we're working on coming up with a few compromise that will make everyone happy.
Rebecca - 3rd Grade
Emily 2nd Grade - she has a different teacher than Rebecca did last year and while I'm a little disappointed - we really loved Mrs. L - I'm excited to see how Mrs. V works out for Emily. The same thing happened with 1st grade (Emily got a different teacher than Rebecca) and it worked out really well for her.
Sam - Kindergarten with Mrs. C.
Alex and Anna on their first day having the house all to themselves ... what are we going to do with ourselves?
We spent August 1-10 in Minnesota. GR's parents rented a cabin (aka house big enough to sleep all 7 grandchildren and their parents) on a lake in Brainerd, MN. We had a fantastic time. We flanked our trip with some fun adventures in Minneapolis, one of the highlights being a wonderful visit with friends we haven't seen in two years! I haven't gotten all our pictures gathered together from the different cameras and memory cards, so my posts about this vacation adventure over the next few days, etc., are going to be done more by adventure rather than timeline.
One feature of the "cabin*" the kids loved was the fire pit down by the dock. Each night we'd build a fire, and watch the sunset while roasting marshmallows enjoying an endless supply of s'mores.
* The locals say, "we're going to the cabin this weekend," ... dont' be fooled by this modesty, I never once saw my idea of a "cabin," something the size of my neighbors shed.
