Gratuitous Moose Pictures

As promised, here are some pictures from our Colorado moose encounter.  I think T took about 200 pictures (literally), so there were quite a few to sort through!  What does it say about us as parents that we take many more pictures of wildlife than we do of our kids?  Hmmm.

Adolescent pair...

handsome and...

FLIRTING with me!

Then, OMG, then, a cow and twins(!)

Who swam across the lake!  Right to us!

Moose Mama munching some grind-age.

And this little gal looks like a stuffed animal! Of course, if I tried to hug her, she would hoof me to death.

 

Mah Bay-bee!!!

Holy cow!  Could she be any gorgeous-er?  When did my baby get to be so big?

You can tell from her half-hearted smile that she is feeling a little nervous.  Interestingly, even though she did look so grown up, and in spite of T's predictions, I didn't shed a tear.  Z did.

On the third day of school when she got out of the car in the drop-off line and walked into the building all by herself?  Sobs!  She looked so little!  And her backpack was as big as she was!  And she ran in without even looking back!  Sniffle!

I am super proud of my big school girl!  She is doing great!

Oh, she wanted me to mention that she picked out her first-day-o'-school dress ALL BY HERSELF.  She was tickled to pick out the accessories, too!

Not a Moment Too Soon

Well, kindergarten happened.  Thank goodness!  The last few days before school started had me hanging on to my sanity with an increasingly tenuous grip.  But I have to say, this back to school thing?  Is kicking my butt.  Phew, I'm pooped!  Z, on the other hand, is not.  School seems to have revved her engine!  Um, yay?

So, here's a breakdown of first day adventures:

• We had to park several blocks away and walk to the school.  When I got Z situated in the cafeteria with her class, my normally intrepid offspring turned to me with big scared eyes and attached herself to me like a leech.  Wha... huh?  My girl who isn't scared of anything CRIED!  I ended up sitting cris-cross-applesauce with the kindergartners until the morning assembly was finished.  The only reason I was able to escape was because the principal dismissed the parents.  When Z started to cling and cry, I told her I had to go - the principal said so!
• School bus = fail.  Not that Z rides it, but I thought it was funny:  The school bus didn't get the new parking memo.  It got trapped in the inside lane and had to make a sharp right turn.  It missed.  And hit the school.  Turning the already crazy morning drop off into a total fuster cluck.  Welcome back to school!
• Clearly, lunch in the cafeteria wasn't explained to Z.  (Or she wasn't listening, a distinct possibility.)  She followed her classmates to the table then noticed that she didn't have anything to eat.  She reported indignantly, "I had to go get it myself!"  Poor little princess!
• Do they make hearing aides in kindergarten size?  At the end of the day, parents putt-putt through the pick-up lanes while the teachers radio ahead to your kid's section and yet another teacher escorts them to the cars.  I made it all the way up to the front of the line and still no Z.  We ended up holding up the line for five minutes or so while they tracked her down. (Spoiler alert: The same thing happened again the second day of school!)
• End of the day report?  She. Loved. It.  Yay!  They had big fun on a scavenger hunt/tour of the school!  There are several kids from her preschool in her class/grade!  She got to drink pink milk!  Just like Lola!  She got a good behavior stamp!  She needs a new full-sized backpack to carry all of her important kindergarten homework!
• Yep, homework.  You have to expect that the talented and gifted magnet would be big fans, huh?  Though on the first day?  I had WAY more homework than she did.  I swear they sent home a dozen forms for me to fill out.  I am getting writer's cramp just thinking about it!
• Last words before she went to sleep:  "Oh, boy!  I get to go to kindergarten again tomorrow!"

Speaking of going to sleep, I need to head that way myself.  The 6:45 alarm comes so. very. early.   Zzzzzz.

Construction: Day 4,893,339

Attic still not done.  Just kill me.

We are down to maybe a dozen small-ish items on the remodel.  And have been since before we left for Colorado.  If I had a dollar for every time the contractor said, "We'll get this knocked out tomorrow,"  I could have PAID FOR THE WHOLE FREAKING PROJECT.  Unfortunately, the biggest thing yet to be completed is the attic.  We have tons of stuff hanging around upstairs waiting for attic space to live in.

Just yesterday, he showed up to see what needed to be completed in the attic.  (An hour after he said he would arrive, but who's keeping track?)  First, he said if T would help him, he would deck the whole attic and not charge us.  Huh?  If the homeowner does the work himself... what?  Then he said he didn't realize how much room there was up there and he had to go get a crew, but would be right back.

*Crickets.*

We never saw him again.

That evening, a neighbor over at the in-law's new place called to say that the garage and gate to the property had been wide open all week.  T called the contractor to find out what the heck was up.  He said he'd left it open because he was expecting some deliveries, but that he would swing by and close it that evening.  Oh, and was 9:00 too early to start work on the attic Saturday morning?  (The house was still wide open when T swung by on his way home from his shift.  At midnight.)

Guess who was not here at 9:00?  Or at all?

I have a houseful of company coming next week, so I finally broke down and texted him about it.  He said he would be here as soon as he got a hold of the floor guy.  I promptly texted him back that I was more concerned with the attic, thankyouverymuch.  He said he would come over and do it himself in the morning.  Just call him when we were ready.

Are we taking bets on whether he shows up?

Summer? What Summer?

Where has the summer gone?  It seems like I blinked and it was time to get Z registered for kindergarten.  She is SO excited about starting 'real' school.  After all the angst-ing I did about where she was going to go to school, I kind of dropped the ball on relating our good news.  She got into the Talented and Gifted Magnet.  Yay!  Of course, I knew she was bright, but don't all parents think that?  Nice to have a little validation and to know that she will be getting the best possible start our school district has to offer.

Our summer was consumed with construction, unplanned dental-related-travel, parental health concerns, play group and our extended family vacation to Colorado.  The growing season is over and I never even managed to get hanging baskets for the front porch purchased/hung up.  At least the majority of the construction debris has been removed from the porch.  We no longer look quite so Sanford & Son!

I got some amazing moose pictures while we were on vacay.  I'll bore you with them as soon as I get a little more time and/or energy.  So, say the fourth of never?  Yeah.  That sounds about right!