Back to School 2024

 If you read the blog last week, it won't come as a surprise to you that the highlight of this week was the start of the school year.  I know that the excitement will fade over time, but so far, everyone is really enjoying school.  Elsie, in particular,  likes to wake up well before the required time (5:45 on the first day) and ultimately wake everyone up with her energy and excitement.

Overall, I'm optimistic about the year ahead .  We are going to be very busy, but hopefully in a good way.  Here is a quick rundown of what's ahead for each kiddo and their first day of school photo(s).

Merrick: Merrick started high school this year.  Our high school is extremely large with about 2,000 kids crammed into a building designed to hold about half that.  Merrick's biggest complaint about school so far is that it is extremely crowded and you can hardly walk through the halls from one class to another.  Luckily for him, he can just look over everyone else's heads.  He has a tough schedule ahead with an advanced math class and an AP class.  In addition, he is playing both baseball and basketball.  Between the regular season and off season training, he will pretty much always be playing something and often be playing both.

 Carrigan: Carrigan is off to middle school this year.  She chose to go to Rosemont Ridge instead of Athey Creek.  That means she can walk to and from school and I get back an hour of my day that I used to spend doing middle school pickup (yay!).  She walks everyday with her friend Coco Salo, who lives just a street away from us.  She walks up to Coco's house early every morning so they can primp together and then they walk to school.  She is also going to have a busy year ahead.  Her math teacher has already told them to plan on homework just about every night.  She also is getting ready to start volleyball and is still doing horseback riding lessons.  She would also like to do dance team, if she can fit it into her schedule.

Elsie: Elsie is now my lone elementary school kiddo.  She is beginning first grade with Mrs. Kirkland, but her class is a K-1 blend.  I have to say that I am not thrilled with that, but I'm trying to stay optimistic.  She is already making lots of new friends in her class and I trust her teacher to continue to push her and help her get to where she needs to be academically this year.  She will play soccer and softball this year and starts soccer this week.  Jeremy will be her coach and Merrick will help as an assistant coach as his schedule allows.  Jeremy was able to coach Merrick's team when he was this age, so it's fun to have him coaching Elsie too.  She rides to school with Jeremy every morning and, now that it's just her, she has full music control (not that she didn't anyway). 

And there you have it, a look at the year ahead.  I hope you come along with me for the ride.