First Day of Super 5's

Technically Sydney started Super 5's and not Pre-K but they are kinda, sorta the same thing and I couldn't find a free chalkboard printable with "First Day of Super 5's" on it. Her sisters have all attended the "Senior" preschool group. With a fall birthday and a keen mind, Sydney's teachers felt she was ready for the challenge. The nicest part of Super 5's is that it is every day which is a relief for both of us. Having spent years as a spectator as her sisters go off to their grand adventures at school, Sydney is chomping at the bit to have her turn. Unfortunately, because parents tend to hold boys back more often than girls, Sydney's class has twice as many boys. She misses all her little girlfriends who are in the Senior class and often complains about those grumpy boys. Ha!

I'm proud to say Sydney selected this outfit all on her own and I think it's pretty darn cute. 

 A good friend of mine was having a pool party for all the moms who were now kid-free and while I was excited to have some grown-up conversation, I really didn't want to go swimming. I spent a whole summer swimming and I was done. I also didn't want to have to rush home to bathe Sydney and get her dressed for school, so I reasoned that Sydney and I would hang out on the edge and just chat. So of course she fell into the pool in her first day of school outfit.

Oh man, I love how those moms rallied in the seconds that followed. A towel appeared out of thin air and one of the moms whipped the rash guard off of her son to cover Sydney. Michelle told me Sydney could just swim in her underwear and she was happy to watch her. So Sydney got to go swimming and then we rushed home to bathe her and get her ready for her first day of school. She's kind of had a crush on the boy that loaned her his rash guard though... I guess that left quite the impression!

Sydney's school does a soft start so the first day was only 1 hour and I had to be there with her. The next two days were still 1 hour but she went alone. It wasn't until after Labor Day that she finally went the whole two and a half hours on her own. Over the years, I've come to realize the soft start is probably more for the teachers than the kids because Sydney has been going to Thunderbird either as a student or the sister of a student for 5 years now. She's familiar with the school and the teachers all know her and she really doesn't need to ease into things. As we have seen, she's more of a "jump right in" kind of girl. She was SO happy to be back in school! Even though her class is full of boys, she really was ready for the routine and the time away from mom.

I didn't mind at all either!

First Day of School

Call me crazy, but on the morning of the first day of school, the girls' fighting went down by about 85%. Maybe they were nervous. Maybe they were busy thinking about the day ahead of them. Maybe they were relieved to go to their own classrooms with their own friends and their own activities. Whatever, the reason, I was so happy to have some relative quiet in the house. 

Brigitta was excited to not be the baby of the school anymore and step into the oh-so-mature roll of 1st grader.

Ireland asked me to give her the exact same hairdo she had on the first day of school last year. She was a little nervous because she has the toughest teacher in all of 3rd grade and she's pretty used to being a teacher favorite. I think it will be good for her to have someone she can't butter up so easily.

Now that she's queen of the elementary school, Liesel was all about acting cool and nonchalant. Then I pointed out to her this will be her last first day of elementary school. Then she became a touch nostalgic.

I'm grateful these girls can look out for each other. It's just elementary school, but some days are tough and it warms my heart to know they always have a friend in each other. That's what I try to teach them anyway... a summer of bickering might suggest otherwise. Ha!

Suddenly there was just one. Sydney was extra quiet as we walked home from the bus stop, still in her pajamas because she didn't have anywhere pressing to be.

I was so eager to make our home great again- to clean and organize and erase the hectic chaos of summer. I wanted to deep clean bathrooms and scrub the stove and get under those beds! But I found Sydney constantly underfoot. I'd mistakenly assumed she'd be happy to have some time playing computer games without anyone bossing her around. Sydney really seemed lost and I had to take a deep breath, put down the Windex and just read her some stories for a little while.

They may drive her as bat-crap-crazy as they do me, but Sydney loves those sisters of hers. Super 5's couldn't start soon enough!

Meet the Teacher

By the end of summer I was hanging on by my fingernails. The girls were driving me absolutely insane and I could not WAIT to get them back into school! It feels like our district is one of the last to start school every fall and with every Instagrammed back-to-school post from my friends, I was losing the last shreds of my sanity at warp speed.

The girls spent the morning in the bath getting fresh and clean with shiny, sun-kissed hair. We did mani-pedis with nail polish that changes color in the sun. One nice thing about mani-pedis is that the girls have to sit still while their fingers and toes dry. It may not sound like much, but believe me, 20 minutes of not breaking up fights was the quick breather that I needed for what was to come. 

Brent really hates it when I take the girls out to eat but I insisted on this one. Maybe I had a wild look in my eyes because he didn't object too much. We went to Steak N Shake and they filled up while I checked and rechecked that I had every necessary form in good order.

We arrived at the school plenty early; practically fogging up the glass as we waited for the doors to open. I may have thrown myself into the arms of the gym teacher and cried, "Thank you for taking my children!" Yeah, and the principal may have been standing nearby looking quizzically at me. That just might have happened but I didn't have too much time to think about it because Meet the Teacher is really designed for the parent with just one or two kids in school. I have FOUR classrooms to hit as well as the nurse's station in less than an hour. We were off to the races.

We order school supplies at the end of the previous school year and so it was all there, just waiting to be organized. I've heard several moms who really prefer to do all the supply shopping on their own and just love taking their kids to the store as an end of summer ritual. I've also heard of people who drive wrenches through their cheeks as a form of penance and my opinion of the two are about the same- they're freaks who should not be allowed in civilized society. Hitting a Target with all my kids in tow and trying to get items on 3 different lists is just bedlam, and I'll skip it if it's an option. I would seriously pay double for those pre-packaged supply boxes.

I always go from youngest to oldest because their patience isn't as developed, and the older kids don't mind seeing their teachers from bygone years. It seems to me the younger the kids are, the longer the list of things that need to be taken care of. I was frantically checking things off and greeting the teacher while trying to not look rushed, or stressed, or clinically insane even though I was a bit of each.

With Brigitta all taken care of, we headed down the hall to Ireland's class. Usually Brigitta and Sydney get intimidated in the older classrooms so they calm down a bit but they started swinging the empty supply boxes around and Liesel was getting antsy to see her friends and her classroom. Round two of checking off lists and organizing supplies and finding lockers and trying not to appear rushed/stressed/insane in front of the teacher.

With Liesel nagging incessantly in my ear, we finally headed to her classroom. More checklists, more organizing supplies, more locker locating, more trying to keep my cool as I felt sweat dripping down my back. I pushed my face into (what I think was) a smile, as I shook the teacher's hand and congratulated her on her impending baby. Now the younger kids were really getting bored and the whining was starting to hit a fever pitch as I told her how much fun babies are and oh how I remember the days and yes it has been a hot summer! 

The clock was ticking, the halls were starting to empty and I had ONE more classroom to go before I hit the nurse's station. This one was pretty fun though, because the girls absolutely adore the Extended Curriculum teacher who they see every year. She's the one person I think wouldn't judge me for being rushed. Or stressed. Or clinically insane. She gets the "big picture" when it comes to our family because she knows all the girls very well.

Her classroom feels like a safe place for us all. Man we lucked out having that woman at our school! She really is the best. 

An announcement came over the P.A. system that Meet the Teacher was going to end in 5 minutes (!) and so I had to tear the girls away from their friends and walk/run-ish (bc there's no running in the halls, my daughters sternly remind me) to the cafeteria. I jumped into line with my forms filled out by me and our pediatrician, and brand-new prescription inhalers in hand. The nurse is pretty fantastic too and she always compliments me on the hairstyles I give the girls.

See my strained smile? My face and neck slicked in sweat from running around? My messy mom-bun?  This was the final leg of the race and I made it! WooHOO!!!

In the meantime, the girls saw dear friends they missed over the summer:

Got all pumped up for the year ahead:

And in the end we celebrated with some froyo: 

Somehow we had forgotten to start the summer break with our traditional froyo so the girls insisted we needed to end with it... even though they had just eaten shakes for lunch. Maybe it was a mom fail, but I flat-out did not care. Everything was in order for the girls to go back to school and I was happier than a pig at slop.

Summer was finally over!!!

Farewell to Summer

"Summer will end soon enough, and childhood as well." ~George R.R. Martin

It felt like we started summer at breakneck speed and we ended summer the same way. I thought I had a week or so to make the final foray into the city with the girls, but when Brent and I looked at the calendar, there were really only a couple of days to work with. Those couple of days narrowed down to just one due to thunderstorms. 

Ireland mentioned she wasn't feeling so well as we walked from Buckingham Fountain to Maggie Daley Park and that's when I realized she wasn't just hot from the weather, she was burning up. She spent most of her time with her head in my lap, just miserable. That didn't stop the others from having some fun though.

Brent was already waiting for us by the time we made our way over to The Bean. The girls ate and I took them one by one to get some photos.

There was a couple with a dog in a stroller (if you look carefully, you can see them in the reflection). After I finished the last photo of the girls jumping, they approached me and asked why I have them jump. The question kind of threw me because it's obviously just a fun photo. I told them it's a tradition, just something we do every year. Then I was tempted to ask why on earth they had a stroller for their dog but I refrained.

Brigitta's picture cracks me up because in the middle of it she realized she could see down her throat and that entertained her to no end.

In a never-ending battle of wills, Sydney really balked at the apples and really gave Brent what for about them being a part of her lunch. We could have finished our picnic much earlier, but Brent was hell-bent on making her eat those apple slices. It was not pretty.

 
Over at Crown Fountain, Ireland slumped against Brent and I while the others frolicked. I felt so bad for her. She didn't want to tell me she wasn't feeling well because she didn't want to miss out on this trip downtown. Ireland was emotional and tired and just wanted to be in bed.

I'm so sad we had to retire this peach swimsuit! The fabric had lost its elasticity and was becoming more and more see-through. I let Brigitta wear it one last time with the swim cap.

I love this picture, you can see the stream of water is dying and Liesel is there trying to catch it. It's like a metaphor for summer- she can try to catch that stream of water all she wants, but ultimately it will slip right through her fingers!

Ireland perked up as we headed back to the car and I was able to catch this photo of her by the Art Institute. She pretty much spent the remainder of the day horizontal.

In a never-ending battle of wills, Sydney fussed about her shoes and walking. Brent was so fed up with her he slung her over his shoulder and she screamed so loud I'm sure the people walking by thought a kidnapping was in progress. It was not pretty. These two are at loggerheads so often, I can't help but laugh so I took pictures and in the end Sydney ended up laughing too. Brent was not amused.

At the end of the day I felt like I'd taken my ACT's all over. I'd been preparing for this and suddenly it was over and done!

Lake Michigan

On the one hand, a trip to the beach is exhausting- the drive to Lake Michigan is about an hour, then there's all the beach toys to lug, the towels, the picnic lunch, etc. Each and every one of us is as pale as the moon so I set a timer to reapply sunscreen every 40 minutes. The sun completely drains my energy. Then there is the inevitable clean up- sand all over the car, swimsuits that need rinsing, tangled hair with sand cemented to the scalp. It's a lot of work.

On the other hand, I really love taking the girls to the beach. There's nowhere else on the planet where we can take so little and yet the girls can stay endlessly entertained. What God had given us by way of sand, water and wind is all they need. I love watching their imagination at work as they find new ways to play. I'm so glad the girls will have memories of going to the beach as a kid. 

I thought we would branch out this summer and try some new beaches along Lake Michigan. I'd heard some good things about Loyola Beach because there is a playground right there. 

The girls and I found it wasn't to our liking though. There was a jetty which meant the water near the shore was stagnant and full of tiny, dead flies. The beach itself wasn't very big with apartment buildings right behind us. While the girls enjoyed the playground, the equipment made it hard to see them so I was constantly leaving the beach to make sure everyone was safe. Even the sand was grittier and full of rocks and twigs. Not to mention I managed to get the worst sunburn of my life. 

We immediately resolved to go back to Foster Beach on our next trip to Lake Michigan. The sand is much softer and better for burying feet and making sand castles.

Foster Beach is shallow so the girls can adventure out a bit from the shoreline without being up to their necks in water.

Que Chariot's of Fire theme!

I guess more than anything it's just familiar. We've been going since Ireland was a toddler and it's really a summer tradition at this point. Although we didn't get to go as much as I'd hoped, I'm glad we made it to Lake Michigan this summer!

Christine's Fairy Garden & American Ninja Warrior Camp

The girls asked me all summer long when they would get to see Christine's fairy garden. I reminded them that we only go when we are invited, but privately I thought perhaps Christine was having a hectic summer and it just wouldn't happen. Finally the sweet invitation came although Liesel and Ireland were bummed to miss out due to their American Ninja Warrior camp. Sydney and Brigitta were pretty thrilled! Now I believe the invitation came later because Christine was making it bigger and better than ever. She had an actual fairy princess in her garden this year! 

The girls got to blow bubbles and play games.

They wore the fairy wings Christine made for them the previous year.

Every year Christine does a scavenger hunt which is such a fun way to explore her gardens! Brigitta had the hardest time finding this clue even though you can see that white envelope so clearly in the picture (just beneath the leaves). She had to return to this spot a few times.

This year's surprise were fancy lace gloves! So cute!!!

I'm so touched by all Christine does for these girls. We are starting our own fairy garden and maybe someday it will approach something as spectacular as Christine's. In the meantime, these girls just give in to the magic and enchantment of that place.

Across town, Liesel and Ireland were engaged in a much different kind of endeavor. All summer they had been watching American Ninja Warrior. It should be noted this is the most fun to watch with Uncle Tim because his commentary is absolutely hilarious. Anyway, a friend of mine mentioned an American Ninja Warrior camp and I knew I had to sign up Liesel and Ireland.

This was the perfect activity for these girls as summer was winding down! The two little ones got a break from the constant fighting and bickering (except when they fought with each other, ha!), and the older ones were distracted with their own gig. Liesel and Ireland LOVED this camp! The fact that some familiar faces from dance were there too didn't hurt a bit. 

The more the girls got involved with camp, the more excited they were to watch the show. When they watched the show, they were pumped up to go back to camp. It was so great and we are definitely doing American Ninja Warrior Camp next summer!