1st Day of Kindergarten

At the end of August, Sims started Kindergarten.  This was a huge transition for him, since he had been going to the same daycare/Pre-K for 5 years.  We knew no one who was going to his elementary school with him.  But he was so brave.  I asked him one morning if he was nervous or worried about starting kindergarten, and he said, "No!  I'm excited!"  I was way more nervous than he was, but I didn't let him know.

First Day of Kindergarten, showing off his new lunch box

Jason and I both dropped him off on his first day.  It was much tougher on me than I expected.  But he has done so well!

Walking to the school

His teacher told us that he is very outgoing and had made lots of friends during the first week.  We know that Sims can be shy at first, but once he feels comfortable, he can be quite outgoing.  We were so happy to hear that he felt comfortable enough to be outgoing!

We are all transitioning to our new norm of homework, packing lunches and no afternoon naps.  It's a whole new world of PTA meetings, field trips and fundraisers.  We are all learning how to navigate it.  So far, so good.

The Mountains

Before Sims started kindergarten, we decided that we needed to go on a vacation with just the 4 of us.  We couldn't go on a big trip, but we were able to carve out a long weekend.  We decided to go to the mountains.  We went back to West Jefferson, where we had visited a couple of years ago, and we rented a house on the north fork of the New River.

It was a rainy weekend, but we had lots of time in between the rain to have fun on the river and around town.  The house had a view of a horse farm and the river, and it was very idyllic.  We loved eating and hanging out on the covered porch, listening to the river and enjoying the surroundings.

The river was really cold, but we still had fun in it.  Jason and Sims fished, and Merritt and I watched.  We saw lots of wildlife, including deer, herons and even a red-spotted newt.

Sims learned how to cast his fishing rod all by himself.  Jason even got it on video.

We went into town to go the farmers market and visit the Ashe County Cheese Store.  Sims was really excited about watching them make cheese.  This had been a highlight for him on our first visit.

It was such a relaxing trip, which is exactly what we all needed before the craziness of a new school year.