First Day of School

Here in Las Cruces school started on August 11th. That is the earliest that my kids have ever gone back to school. They were all excited, though, and ready to start. On the Friday before school started, we went to the school (having registered 2 weeks before) so that I could find out who their teachers were and we could find out where the classrooms were. I wanted the first day of school to be as stress free as possible. Unfortunately, they still didn't have my kids assigned to teachers. Monday was just going to have to be an adventure.
I was pleasantly surprised when I found out that my kids could ride the bus to school. We actually live pretty close (as the crow flies) and google maps puts us at .9 miles away if you were to drive it. Since my kids didn't even know where they were supposed to go, I decided that I was going to take them the first day. After they got dressed and ate breakfast, we were getting ready to leave and I started getting worried about the parking situation at school. At the last minute, I decided that we should probably walk to avoid having to find a parking space. I had never walked to the school (I had been told by some neighbors that you could cut through some undeveloped area to get there in a few minutes). I really should have investigated it before that morning - I had Emma in the stroller and cutting through the desert that was full of brush, dirt, and sand would have been difficult. Not to mention we had to climb down about 3 feet of a rock wall. So, by the time we walked a little bit, and decided that it wasn't going to work, it was almost time for the bus to be there. I offered to let the kids ride the bus to school (because they were so excited about that) and I would drive there separately and meet them at the front door. They waited at the corner. A bus came, stopped, and opened it doors but the bus driver said that bus didn't go to Desert Hills (I still have no idea what school it could be going to). Then, another bus drove by and it was the bus number that I was expecting - but it didn't stop. I found out later that the bus drives by, loops around, and then comes from the other direction. But, at that point, I was getting worried about being late and just drove everyone to school. Then, we had to scramble for a parking space, find their names on the class lists, and navigate a school that we had never been past the front office. We made it before the bell rang and even went over and met Josh's teacher.
Here's Rachel, all ready for 5th grade.

David, 3rd grade.

Josh, didn't start Kindergarten today, but I still took his picture. And that's one of my old cell phones that he has clipped on his pants - Josh and David can spend hours playing with an old cell phone - who knew?

Patiently waiting while mom takes pictures.

Waiting for the bus (that they didn't get on!)

David in his classroom.

Rachel at her desk.

This is a few days later when Josh got to go to his class from 9-11.



He has his first full day on Friday. I hope they all have a happy, safe, successful year!