American Girl Birthday

One of Leah's birthday celebrations this year included a family birthday lunch at American Girl in Chicago!  All I can say is WOW!  Where was this place when I was little?  It was a little girl's dream come true!  

We had planned on bringing her Bitty Baby, Brooklyn, with us on our trip, but in the haste of packing we forgot her!  Not to worry, Nana let her open her birthday present from her and Papaw the night before the party!  It was the Bitty Twins that Leah quickly named Leah and Lane!

So excited to get her party started!

Leah's party of 10!

Mommy and the Birthday Girl!

The menu!  Everything was definitely geared for the little ladies, not the adults who were paying for the meal!  Although, I didn't think the food was that bad!  I mean, a baked chicken finger is a baked chicken finger!

The little guests are encouraged to bring their own dolls to lunch; however, they have plenty of extras on hand for anyone who didn't bring theirs!  You better believe that Lane and Caroline wanted to choose their own doll to eat with!

Appetizers!  I think Caroline ate every single strawberry!  :)

Time for lunch!  Mac and cheese for the birthday girl!  Papaw also ordered an identical plate!  :)

This picture cracks me up of Uncle Chris!  I don't think he was quite impressed with his baked chicken fingers and tomato soup!  He needed Chick-fil-A nuggets for dessert!

Cake time!  (All egg free!  American Girl goes above and beyond in the allergy department!)

Favor bags complete with a book and a new outfit for one of her babies!

Presents!

Lane insisited on carrying Leah's babies after the party like a true gentleman!

The Birthday Girl and one of her biggest fans!

Happy Birthday Sweet Girl!

The celebration ended with the birthday girl shopping 'til she dropped (or until we ran out of arms to carry things)!  She got lots of birthday money for her special day so she got lots of fun things for her babies and for herself!

And while the little lady was shopping, Daddy and Papaw took Lane to find his own surprise!

It took an army to carry everything back to the hotel!

It was such a fun day!  We can't wait to go back!

Kindergarten

Somehow the last five years flew by in the blink of an eye, and my baby girl is now in Kindergarten.

Kindergarten in California is a little different from what I was used to in Texas.  For starters, the cutoff date to turn 5 is currently October 1st (last year it was November 1st and all years previously it was December 1st meaning lots of kiddos started Kindergarten in August at the age of 4)!  The date is moving up to September 1st next year which will be on par with Texas.  Also, in California Kindergarten is not mandatory.  Children must be enrolled in school once they turn 6, but the school district could put them automatically in first grade.  Crazy!  All I can think is those poor first grade teachers (especially in Title I schools).  Another difference between California and Texas is that Kindergarten is only currently a half day program versus a full day program in Texas.  I did just find out that some districts in our state are changing over to full day Kindergarten but ours has not done that yet.  I honestly didn't know what to expect with such a short day, but after meeting with her teacher I can tell you that they pack a TON in during those 3 1/2 hours. It's a pretty intense program with lots of fun thrown in along the way!  There are two certified Kindergarten teachers (not aides) in her classroom at all times plus at least one parent volunteer per day working with students so they really can make alot of progress in those few short hours.  I'm excited for this school year for Leah AND I'm excited that I will be working in her classroom each and every Wednesday!  I cannot wait!

The registration process for our neighborhood school is intense!  Our school is year round (versus traditional) with four different tracks.  We knew we wanted A track because that's what her friends are currently on and I think it's the best schedule.  Because this is the most popular track, Luke was in line at 4 am (for 7 am registration) on a very cold day back in February to guarantee Leah's spot.  We got it so it was all worth it!

We requested a certain teacher (Mrs. Lopez) and we got her too so this year is off to a great start!  Mrs. Lopez teachers the A track pm class so Leah goes to school from 11:14 am to 2:48 pm.  This schedule is PERFECT for our non-morning family!  School is just around the corner so we walk to and from school each and every day with our neighbors because Braydon is in her class too!  Leah was super lucky because she already had two friends in her class.....Braydon, our neighbor, and Sierra, a friend from preschool who she has gotten to play with lots this summer because Sierra's sister is good friends with Leah's friend Lyla, our neighbor.  Such a small world and one of the many reasons I'm glad we chose our neighborhood school versus a private school that we looked into.  On the first day of school Leah found another friend in her class that she knew from preschool too, another Leah!

The only school supplies she needed were glue sticks, Crayola twistable colored pencils and dry erase markers.  I haven't quite figured out if the state, the school district or the PTA took care of the rest of the supplies or what.  Their homework folders (starts on Monday) are pretty snazzy too so I'm not sure whose covering the bill for that, but California is a little funny with their money so who knows!  The PTA at our school rocks so I'm so excited for all of the fun activities that will be going on this year!

Cinnamon toast cut into angels was the breakfast request on day 1!

All ready for her first day!

Thanks to Uncle Chris and Aunt Kylie for her backpack and to Emily and Evan for her water bottle (that she and Lane are now fighting over) and her lunchbox!

This girl is OBSESSED with her teeth falling out.  Every night before bed she sticks her entire hand in her mouth to check to see if any of her teeth are loose (checking all of the bottom and all of the top at the same time with the one hand).  I promise they will fall out soon enough Baby Girl!  This is the only reason I can guess that she said dentist!

And we're off!  We walk in style around these parts!  Daddy stayed home to take and pick up Leah on her first day so we took the wagon.  When it's just me I take the double stroller!  It's just a tad too far for Leah to walk there and back without being a hot sweaty mess!

Leah and Sierra!  So excited these two cuties are in the same class!

And one more pic with her brother!

And she's off!  Parents were encouraged to say their goodbyes at the gate and not follow the children in on the first day.  We got to visit her classroom when we picked her up!  I was okay with this idea, but Lane was NOT!  He screamed and cried at the gate because he didn't get to go in!

We watched from outside the gate as they lined up outside the classroom door and waited in line to find their name on the door (all while Lane was screaming to go inside)!

A lonely brother making the ride back home!

After school!  When they come out of their classroom they have to point at who they're going with and can't be dismissed until Mrs. Lopez acknowledges both the parent and the child.  Love it!

Leah gave us a little tour of her classroom after school!

And just a few more pictures from her first week!

Looking cute on Wednesday!

She checked out her very first library book on Thursday.  This is her only book just for fun.  A book report will have to be done on all future library books for the year!

We were greeted with a class full of raccoons for pick-up on Thursday!

Her first spirit day was on Friday!  She was NOT a fan of wearing the t-shirt.  Looks like I might have lots of bribing to do each and every Friday!