A fresh school year

August 23 was a big day in our house -- all five kids had their first day of school (well, mostly, as we'll explain in a minute) -- including one beginning college and one beginning kindergarten. Talk about big changes.

Melissa, already in Idaho, started her freshman year of college with freshman orientation before a full week of classes (none before 9:30 a.m., though, so her sleep time isn't disrupted too much).


Colin and Carson are back in middle school (8th and 7th grade, respectively). We are fans of their school and it's pre-high school program. Colin is taking high school geometry, and Carson high school algebra.


They're also looking forward to their CCP (core curricular period -- time during the school year that they can explore other interests such as fossils, cross country, or extra tutoring).


Dylan is in fourth grade. No big deal (just ask him). He has a "man teacher," his first. He made a good group of friends last year, so he's happy to back with his buddies. He is hoping to be selected to the band so he can learn how to play drums.

And then there's Levi. As the youngest of five, he's been waiting for this moment to arrive for years. His anxiousness to start school elevated as we shopped for school clothes; multiplied as we shopped for school supplies; and was further amplified as the calendar wound down to August 23rd.

And then, a week before school started, we got a letter (in our house, THE letter). Levi would start school on Wednesday the 25th. Ouch.

But we made the best of it. Levi got dressed for school on the 23rd, got his picture taken, and went to school with Dylan. Then, when the bell rang for classes, he went to Dunkin' Donuts.


On Wednesday, his official first day, he decided he would ride the bus with Dylan. Yvonne offered to drive him to school for his first day, but Levi insisted that he would ride the bus because it WASN'T the first day for him. He had been to school. Over Levi's protestations, Yvonne went to the bus stop with him (Jason, under the presumption that school started Monday, was away on travel).

As you can see in the photo below, Levi was ready for her to leave so he could get on with his day. He got his photo done, and got on the bus. He came home from the full day of school dog tired. His comment: it was kind of boring, but he enjoyed gym time. It's gonna be an interesting year.