Another School Year Begins

Grace commentary -- "I'm loving Isaac's barefoot look."

The school year is back in full swing!  Scott and I were gone all last week taking Ethan out to BYU (a separate post will be forthcoming), but now that we're back and living our new normal, I thought it would be a good time to document the first few days of school.  

Unlike in years past, however, there aren't all that many "stories" to tell -- or at least not any of the comedy-of-errors sort.  Hahaha.  For starters, even though the first day of school dawned bright and early on us (especially for my vampire-schedule girls), everyone was up and at it that morning with plenty of time to spare.  And then -- after taking the obligatory first-day-of-school pictures -- they left for school and made it through the day without a hitch.  With Grace (our new high school chauffeur) taking Sophie, and Scott dropping all the others off on his way to work, I didn't even need to leave the house!  It was a pretty glorious start to the year -- not gonna lie.  Hahaha.

With my baby starting Kindergarten and my first-born starting college, you'd think I'd be a maudlin mess right about now, but truth be told -- I haven't shed a single tear.  😳 I don't know if this makes me remarkably cold-hearted or incredibly well-differentiated, but I'm finding it too hard to be sad when I'm so excited for the both of them to start their new adventures!  Perhaps by the time Isaac graduates from college I will be weeping for all the days gone by, but for now, I'm just happy to see them happy.  😁

With the general overview of the day out of the way, let's get down to the specifics...

ISAAC -- Kindergarten:

He was very insistent on wearing this outfit combination; he was convinced that the blue light saber on his shirt and the turquoise at the bottom of his shorts were the same color and therefore matched.  (They're not, and it doesn't.  Bless his little heart.)

Text exchange that morning --

Scott:
He was pretty nervous
But he’s dropped off now and ready to go
Jessica:
Isaac?

Scott:

Yeah

At one point he said “I’m kinda nervous”

Jessica:

Poor little lamb 

Scott:

But he did great

Got out. Walked right to the teacher. 

Jessica:

Are we the worst for not taking him at 8:30 like I’m sure most of the other kindergartners are doing?

Scott assured me that we WEREN'T the worst for dropping him off without any fanfare, and the huge smile and excited greeting he gave me when he got off the bus at the end of the day was enough to let me know that no lasting emotional damage had been done.  Haha.  He had a GREAT first day and even made a "BFF for life" with the kid who sits next to him in the classroom.  {Spoiler alert -- one week later, he says they're no longer friends.  It seems that Kindergarten is a going to be a whirlwind of social activity.}

Grace took this picture while he was eating breakfast that morning.

ALEX -- 5th Grade:

For Alex, being in 5th grade means he's starting middle school!  He didn't seem to have too many jitters about it, but I think he was happy nonetheless to go through our new daily schedule over and over and over again during family council the night before school started.  He was a happy camper when he got home from school that day, so I think Day 1 was a success!  {Incidentally, I got a voicemail from his teacher last week telling me that he's such a little gentleman and she loves having him in her class.}

JANE -- 7th Grade:

Jane -- now a junior-high-er -- was very pleased with the results of her first-day-of-school-clothes-shopping-expedition.  I thought her outfit was super cute, myself, and her brand-new backpack (not pictured) was a nice finishing touch to the first impression she projected at her new school.  Her report back on the day, while monosyllabic, indicated that everything went well (she likes the people at her table, she likes her schedule, and she didn't get lost), but that didn't stop her from pleading a "stomach ache" later that week and wanting to stay home.  I very firmly informed her at that point that we would NOT be starting week 1 of school with children already staying home, and unless she had a fever or was throwing up she WOULD be going to school that day.  Since she had neither of those symptoms, she very reluctantly managed to pull herself together in time for Scott to take her to school.

SOPHIE -- 9th Grade:

Sophie's first day of high school seems to have been a success!  I didn't hear very many details about the day -- other than the fact that her new shoes had given her horrible blisters, but when asked earlier today what she wanted recorded for posterity on the blog she said: "I liked it" and "it was fine."  So clearly we have some ringing endorsements there.  Hahaha.  Luckily for both her and Grace, they were able to ease into a normal-people-sleep-schedule that first week of school before having to wake up even earlier the following week for seminary.  Tender mercies, amiright? 

 

Text exchange later that day --

Scott:

I sent a text to grace and sophie saying have a great day

Grace response …

Ugh, I lava you. 

Hahahaha

GRACE -- 11th Grade:

As Grace is ever my chatterbox, I heard much more from her than from anyone else regarding her first day of school -- and I have the text threads to prove it.  Hahahaha.  But seriously, though.  The world is never boring when Grace is around.  Her first day as a junior went as well as could be expected, and -- even though she admitted the day before (during a very long afternoon chat/monologue) that she was stressed about coming up with "ice breakers" for what she assumed would be many classes worth of "get to know you" activities -- she made it through the day with a respectable level of aplomb.

Grace text thread from Day 1 -- 

Grace:

So what are your plans for today

Jessica:

I’m blogging 

Grace:

Wow look at you go

There’s a couple here wearing matching outfits

You’d get a kick out of it 

Jessica:

Lol

Grace:

Send me a pic from when I was One

Found one Nevermind

Want to add like 10 to my card so me and Sophie can get sonic after school for the first day <3333

^

Also is isaac home yet?

Hello?????

Jessica:

Dad already put a bunch of money on your card. So unfortunately, no. 

Grace:

Most of it was for gas

It didn’t even completely pay for the bagels this morning

Pleaseeee

We just want slushes

It won't cost much 

Jessica:

No

Grace text thread Day 2 -- 

Grace:

Do you approve of me watching R rated movies in history 😍

Jessica:

What’s the movie?

Grace:

Random ones

All R for blood and gore

Jessica:

I guess that’s fine 

Grace:

Omg you were considering saying no?

Jessica:

🤔

Grace:

😘😘😘

I’ve only seen 1 r movie

Game night 

And I started that no country for old man thing with dad

And you approved the movie "it"

Jessica:

They were both edited for TV

Grace:

Still

You should approve ready or not for me

And fear street

The fear street trilogy^

You would hate those movies but I would love them

So you should def consider it!?

Hey what are my least favorite foods

I can't think on the spot

It’s the ice breakers we have to do for this class

I thought of one

Nevermind

#ihatelasagna

Can you add like 10 or 20 to my card when I go to the store today for decor

Cause I also wanna get some food while there

So like 10 for decor and 10 for a couple lunchables or something??

Also did you get extras today???

Or do you want to just add money to my card and I can get extras

Cause I need extras for school 😍

Jessica:

I’m Isaac

Grace:

Give mommy the phone

Jessica:

No 

Grace:

Just for a little bit

For two minutes

Grace:

Isaac

Give mommy the phone it won’t be long

Jessica:

No

Grace:

Babe give mom the phone

She needs to read my messages 

Jessica:

Fine 

Grace:

Good boy

Grace:

This snack stuff is expensive

15 bucks for one of those box things of chips

Add an extra 10??

I’ll give you ten at home

Or if you wanna give it to me out of the kindness of your heart that works too

Jessica:

Fine

Grace:

Thanks bae

But seriously why is trash food so expensive

Jessica:

🤷‍♀️

ETHAN -- Freshman at BYU:

Son number 1 totally humored me with these first day of school pics.

Ethan started school yesterday, and even though he's miles away, I still plan on documenting his life as much as I possibly can.  And since Ethan thinks of this blog as my magnum opus (and is often the one hounding me to update it), I knew I could convince him to fill me in on his day.  Of course, saying he "filled me in on his day" is a bit generous given the texts we exchanged last night, but something is better than nothing, and done is better than perfect -- so that's how I'm going to end this post.

Ethan text thread Day 1 --

                                                         

Jessica:

Was it a good first day?

  Thoughts? Impressions? Feelings? 🤔

Ethan:

The Library is really nice

My professors are pretty funny

  The cannon center serves pretty good food

Jessica:

lol

Thank you.  I’ll make sure to document all of that on the blog for you. 🤪

A Universal Truth

At last -- the final recap of our West Coast Swing!  For our last full day of the road trip, we descended upon Universal Studios Hollywood with gusto.  The day was long, hot, and -- not gonna lie -- kind of draining, but -- at the end of the day -- we left the park with happy campers.  Hot, tired, and hungry campers, but happy nonetheless.  As is the case with all amusement/theme parks, we paid more than the actual worth of the food we consumed and the souvenirs we bought, but it's all about making memories,  right??  Hahaha.  With that being said, here are the memories we'd like to keep from the day...

• Harry Potter world
  

Our first stop right out of the gate was Hogsmeade.  Hahaha.  Alex became relatively obsessed with all things Harry Potter earlier this year, and visiting the famous wizarding world was one of the biggest draws of the road trip for him.  That being said, ALL of the kids (myself included) were looking forward to experiencing the magic, and I think for the most part it was fairly magical!  Hahaha.  

I was surprised to hear everyone's reactions to Butterbeer -- it was a unanimous thumbs down from the kids.  Meanwhile, I thought it was a delicious, frosty treat on a hot summer day.  Go figure!

Isaac still rocking that smile.  LOL.

• Amusement park rides

I'm not one for rides of any kind, but between Scott and the older kids, everyone had a buddy (or buddies) for whatever thrill they wanted to seek.  Hahaha.  Isaac braved his very first roller coaster {The Flight of the Hippogriff} while we were still in Harry Potter world, and he was lucky enough to have Grace accompany him to the kiddie land rides after everyone dispersed.  

(post roller coaster ride)

• Studio tour

While Grace was with Isaac, and Sophie, Jane, and Alex were doing their own thing, Scott and I plus Ethan went on the Studio Tour "with" Jimmy Fallon.  lol.  Hahaha.  It was actually a lot of fun to see the different sets/lots, and it didn't hurt that the hour or so ride gave us a chance to be off of our feet and out of the direct sun during the middle of the day.

• Merch

And now we get to the true racket portion of the trip -- the souvenirs.  Other than 1 souvenir apiece paid for by mom and dad, the kids were on their own for anything they wanted to buy.  Wizard wands were the "1 souvenir" each kid wanted to get, so 6 wizard wands were the order of the day!  {Unfortunately, before the day was even over, Isaac had already lost his.  Womp womp.  While we were sitting on a bench in the shade eating some popcorn, he must have set it down and someone must have taken it.}  

Decisions, decisions.

Jane and Sophie both treated themselves to oversized unicorn slippers before we left for the day.

I wish this post had a little more pizazz, but we're at the end of the road and I'm tired, so that's a wrap on this summer's epic road trip!  Now we can get back to our regularly scheduled programming and begin to cover our August birthdays and back-to-school.  Yippee!!!  Hahaha.