Simone Q - 1st Grader at last!

Now come on....wasn't it just yesterday I saying how fast Kindergarten went by.  And wasn't I also just commenting on how much fun this coming summer would be...
And now here we are sending our sweet QingLu to 1st Grade!   Where did the summer go?  And when did my little girl get so old?  Old enough to be in "real" school! 

So to recap the events of the day ....
Yes there were some tears and some very long & embarrassing hugs and lots of peeks through the window.  Oh....but wait... that was just Sammy and me.  Simone really did wonderfully and was very happy and excited about being in 1st grade!  She was the first one up in the morning and so very sweetly *not* woke Sammy and I up as well.  Daddy was equally excited and I think may have been a tad responsible for our early morning wake up.  And although Sammy Wei was a bit miffed about being woken at first he gladly followed his sis downstairs for juice and cuddles.

Oh here she is...all ready to go!

(I think Ollie dog wants to go also...)

So everybody had the same idea to drop off the kids on the first day.  We had to park wayyyyy out there, but we all made it on time!  Sammy is busy checking out the line of traffic, but look how excited Simone is!

Here she goes...back to school...walking through the front door. 

Now I must add here she wanted to walk in "all by herself, no holding hands, I AM a big girl".

Putting her backpack away...

And ready to go!

We found her seat and she was making friends before we even left!

The class is small and the kids all seem very nice.  She even has two of her close pals in the class which made us all happy!

Soooo.....what did Sammy and I do on our first day of freedom?

Well, we waited patiently....

Until the school bus came to the end of our street. 

WoooHooo here comes Simone!!!! 

She had a great first day of 1st grade and even took the bus home like a real big girl! 

I still can't believe summer is over and that I have a 1st grader.  I can't believe how happy that little camper was to head back to school and the huge difference from last year.  And yep...I am a bit sad even as I sit here so proud.  Sad because the clock has not stopped, has not slowed and is not going to go backwards.  Proud because she has come so far and has grown so confident and sure of herself.

My baby girl is just growing up...and it's an amazing... yet going way too fast for me!

J