Alaina's first day of Kindergarten was August 18. She really wanted to ride the bus, but the parents were supposed to bring their kid into the classroom the first day, so I said I would put her on the bus, and then drive into town to meet her there and walk her to her room. Not knowing where to go when she got off the bus was her ONLY concern about the first day of school, so I PROMISED I would be there. The bus picked her up, I went inside long enough to get a mug of coffee to go, and then Ryan and I headed into town. When we got there, we didn't see her bus yet, so we were kind of hanging out on the school lawn, when I noticed one of our neighbor girls waiting for her bus to the middle school. I really wanted to cry when it dawned on me that I had missed her bus and wasn't there like I had promised I would be, and totally pictured Alaina crumbled in some corner because her mom had abandoned her. Ryan and I booked it to her classroom, where she was already settled in and coloring, and didn't seemed phased at all. The teachers and staff must have done a great job of whisking kids off to their proper rooms as soon as they got there. I did see Mr. Brownlee, her bus driver (and t-ball coach), in the hallway after I left, and scolded him for driving too fast and ruining MY MOMENT. Because let's face it, this day was All About Me! Right?
Alaina with Logan and Garrett, who now live down the road from us, and whom I have watched for the past 3 years before and after school. They were excited to help Alaina out on her first day. Good thing they were there when she got off the bus at school, since I wasn't!
All set to go: New clothes, shoes, backpack, and even her name tag.
Mad rush for the bus! I tried to get a picture of her stepping on, but it was too crowded. My only real memory of my first day of school is walking up to the bus all by myself at the end of our driveway, and having to climb up using my hands and knees because the steps were so tall! My giant kid didn't have that problem though.
When it finally dawned on me that my daughter was not sharing in my sappy, first-day-of-Kindergarten, capture-it-all-on-film enthusiasm, I asked her "Do you want mommy and Ryan to leave now?" To which I received a rather unapologetic "Yes, mom." What?!?! That's it. When Ryan starts Kindergarten, somebody WILL cry, darn it!
So I was going to update my blog last night, until I realized that I can't find my camera. I think it's lost. The last time I remember having it was at the pool one day when I gave it to Ryan to look at while we were watching Alaina's swimming lessons (not my most brilliant idea ever, in hindsight). But I usually don't let him have it long, so I don't know. I'm so mad at myself. There wasn't a ton of pictures on it, but I did have some pics from t-ball, July 4th in Ashkum (including one incriminating photo of my mom chugging wine from the bottle at fireworks), and pictures from our little vacation to Chicago in July. Boo hiss.
Last night was Alaina's first t-ball game at Brock Lake. The girls are all 5 and 6 years old. The first game was so cute. Of course, most of them don't know what they're doing yet. They limit the game to 1 hour (for good reason!), and in that time we only got through not quite 2 innings. Lots to learn. Some girls would hit the ball and try running to 3rd. Some couldn't even see out from under the giant helmets. They let all the girls bat every inning, so that adds to the long innings. At one point, Alaina was playing 2nd base. She stood out there so long I think she forgot she was playing defense, and she walked over and actually stood on 2nd base with the runner, and when the next player hit the ball she took off running towards 3rd. Too funny. I was soooo proud of her though. She reminds me so much of me when I was little, and I was too shy to ever try softball, so a little part of me wanted to cry when she marched right up to the plate and hit the first pitch like it was nothing. And got her first RBI too! My big girl. 
Here she is on 3rd base waiting to run home. Most of them made it home. I think there was only one actual throw that made it to 1st before the runner, and even then they didn't make the girl leave the field. I could totally see Alaina crumbling into a ball of tears if they ever tag her out and send her back to the dugout!!! haha.
Running home for her first score!!!
When it finally dawned on me that my daughter was not sharing in my sappy, first-day-of-Kindergarten, capture-it-all-on-film enthusiasm, I asked her "Do you want mommy and Ryan to leave now?" To which I received a rather unapologetic "Yes, mom." What?!?! That's it. When Ryan starts Kindergarten, somebody WILL cry, darn it!
