Caroline Goes to Kindergarten!

The title to this post sounds like a children's book, doesn't it? Roy and I were talking last night and we both remember Kindergarten, but not necessarily our very first day. So, this post is for our sweet girl who made a big step today! And she just might remember her first day on her own because of how it started. After months of talking about it and weeks preparing for it, the day before Kindergarten arrived. We had been to the classroom, met the teachers, laid out that first day of school uniform and then BAM! Caroline got sick. After three episodes of vomiting, it was clear that she wasn't going to make it to the first official day of school. I felt so bad for her! She rested the next day and by dinner time, she was her old self again.

We had even gone out to buy "The Night Before Kindergarten" to read at bedtime. This is her right before vomit #2 happened:

TAKE 2...NEXT NIGHT:

Always our drama queen, she told me to take one picture with her looking sick...

....and then a normal one! This was HER night before Kindergarten!

The day she had been waiting for finally arrived! She has been waiting all summer to wear these uniforms and carry this backpack. And after our cousin, Maddie, introduced hair straightening to her this summer, we had to straighten her hair to wear with the headband:)

I love this picture! True bliss!

A little blurry, but here are our three sweet children. It was an early morning...and it may be hard getting used to!
We kept our annual first day of school breakfast tradition going and went to McDonald's for a little celebration...

Then it was off to school! But first, there had to be a big hug from Daddy:)

RoyBoy felt awfully big walking with his sister into school. He'll be taking this same walk in two years!

Caroline has the sweetest teachers this year. Here she is with Mrs. Haan. Mrs. Hancock is also her teacher and we couldn't be happier!


She found her cubby and put her backpack and lunchbox away...
...then she found her seat, I gave her a kiss and a goodbye hug and Kindergarten officially began for our sweet Caroline! One of the things I love about her school is 1:00 pick up for Kindergartners!! And I think I'm going to like this carpool lane thing! Here is her class waiting patiently for the mommies at the end of the day:

Did Caroline like Kindergarten? Here is her reaction when she got in the car....

I had a million questions to ask but I didn't want to bombard her and I didn't want to get one word answers, so I asked them slowly and carefully, which she happily answered. Basically she said her day was "awesome" and she loved going to the cafeteria for lunch:) Because it was her special day, I told her to pick out anything she wanted for dinner and I'd make it. Out of everything I could possibly make, she picked Piggy Pudding...her favorite! Easy and very, very yummy.So, it's the end of the day and Caroline has been smiling for the majority of it. She's been giddy and excited and she is acting in a way that I totally remember when I was a little girl. She didn't want to change out of her uniform when she got home and she's played school up in her room (with her backpack and lunchbox). I love it! Roy told me today that he is so sad that she's growing up. If I think about it long enough, I get a little sad that her toddler days are now over, but I'm not hiding in my closet with a box of Kleenex singing "Sunrise, Sunset". To borrow a quote from my friend, Inger, "Don't cry because it's over. Smile because it happened." How true! Caroline has given us so many happy memories and now we've moved on to a new chapter in her childhood. How exciting!!