first day of school, 2016

 On the first day of school, we take First Day of School pictures, and go out for lunch.

It's a lovely tradition we all enjoy.  The kids get to decide where they want their picture taken.

One of Lydia's last homeschool photos she chose to perch on some old toilets in front of the garage--when your dad is a plumber, random broken-down toilets appear and go away all the time.

Here Julia is staging falling into a puddle in our deteriorating driveway.

 He was not creative about choosing a location and staged no performance, just finally stood in front of the garage and managed a pleasant almost-smile.

p.j. posed with the fountain my parents gave us a few years ago.

 He's trying to help the little sister baby choose a spot for her picture.

 There you go!

 We had a fine lunch at Applebees. Food was great, company easy-going.

While we were trying to entertain her while we waited for our food, I handed her the drink menu.  She slapped it away and screeched.

Tim quipped, "Clearly she's not in her Happy Hour."

I cracked up, but she wasn't that bad.   She was actually very, very good.

 She does this thing though where she wants help with the silverware, so she reached for my fork and then took it over.  So then I was eating salad with her spoon. Shortly she was handing me back the fork and we traded again. She wants to be independent, but gets frustrated with the process and wants a hand.

These two:

 This was kind of a wistful lunch in a way because this may be the Last First Day of Homeschool.  p.j. starts Kindergarten tomorrow.  These girls have spent nearly every day together since that little one was born in 2011, Niece and Little Auntie.  Julia was six when she was born.

When I was little, my aunts were teenagers and I adored them.  I still do.

This man in the photo below is going to high school next year, and Julia doesn't want to be home alone without him, and has requested to go to school next year too.

We're going to check out some charter schools, see what we can figure out.

Tim, you half-grown teenager man?

Nothing.   Just love.

Happy First Day of School, 2016.

Love, Mom, aka Grandma