Back to School Bash and First Day of Kindergarten!

Last Thursday we decided to celebrate the end of summer vacation with a special night of activities followed by indoor camping. We started off with a day/night sorting activity that the boys loved. I mean, you have to know what animals you might meet when camping.Preston did all the cutting.

And Elic glued.

We did have to ask Dad to decide where a few animals should be placed, but over all they knew the answers.
Next, it was snack time. We counted out our indregients for our camper's trail mix.
The boys waited patiently while dad put up the tent.
Here they are running in to see Dad's creation- it was quite a sight.
They needed their flashlights to make their way around the tent maze Darren created.
He basically put together all the tents we own to make a long tunnel ending up at the tent where they would sleep. Everyone loved crawling around inside.
Getting ready for bed.
We had one last craft of the night- star gazers. Isn't Elic so cute trying to look through to see the stars?
There were bedtime stories. . .
and you can't camp without singing a few songs.
One last hug good night and the boys were ready to sleep. Well, Elic lasted maybe ten minutes before he asked to sleep in his own bed. Preston loved the tent and stayed all night.
Yesterday was Preston's first day of kindergarten! I really can't believe that he's old enough to be in elementary. We drove to the school but then walked him into his classroom. Isn't he so handsome?

We saw Trenton on the way in. They aren't in the same class but see each other at recess every day.
Here we are making our way to the kindergarten hall.
His teacher is Mrs. Behymer and she's expecting a baby girl this October.
Preston found his locker and put his backpack away.

He found his name tag.
Took a few last pictures with dad. . .
and mom and then sat down for circle time.
Everyone kept telling me I was going to cry, but I was so excited for him that I didn't. He's going to learn so much and meet new friends, just a very special time in his life.
Darren took the day off and we all went to pick him up. For a special treat we went to Chik-fil-a and had ice cream. I loved that he shared so much with me about his day. I was afraid he might say, "I don't know" or "I don't remember" when I asked him what they did. They sing their way through the day and Preston sang us quite a few songs he's already learned. He went to music yesterday and learned a cute bear song. We're working on learning our classmates names. He doesn't like to ask people their names so he just says "I sat by two girls" or "I was next to a boy". He was very excited to go back today. Now I just have to get use to this new schedule. I'm so afraid that I'll forget to pick him up that I've set my alarm clock on my phone to remind me to get to carpool. I think we're off to a great start for this kindergarten year!