Five pictures from the first day of school.

So school started yesterday, as it did in many places. This year was a special year for us though, as Lauren started Kindergarten. She's not *quite* five- her birthday is still a week away- but she's clearly ready and meets the cutoff. Mike and I are shocked at how fast that five years went!

First, your traditional first day of school photo with all the kids. 5th grade, 2nd grade, Kindergarten.

Then the excited girl herself.

Happily, Noah is in the same class as his BFF again this year.  Since it's a brand new school, it was pretty important that he have something to ground him a bit. Noah struggles to contain himself, and if he didn't know anyone it would be a disaster.

Tristan's BFF is there too, but is in 4th grade, so they have to content themselves to recess and playground time.

Mrs. Harford has been teaching Kindergarten for 29 years. How many first day pictures do you think she's taken?

This morning also went smoothly, but Lauren was a little  nervous out on the playground waiting for the bell. I hung around until most of the kids were there, but she was uncharacteristically shy and unwilling to reach out. (This is normally the child that marches up and introduces herself to any other kid in the playground/park/restaurant/etc.)  I gave her a big reassuring hug, and I bet she does just fine.