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Friday, September 5, 2008

A Great Way to Start the School Year

We don't "officially" begin our schoolwork until this coming Monday, but today we had our first "meeting" for our co-op for this new school year. We met at a playground for the kids to enjoy some free time together while the weather is still nice. And us moms ironed out some details about the upcoming co-op year. We also chatted and got caught up on what's been going on with everyone. It was really nice to see everyone (except a few that couldn't make it), but VERY hot. The kids had a blast! We also brought our lunches and made sort of a picnic out of it.
We left by 12:30 and headed to a new club I signed my girls up for. It's quite a bit out in the country, but still didn't take us that long to get there. Beautiful land out there! It's called the Girls of St. Francis Club, for girls ages 6 and up. Basically, it's a totally outdoors, Charlotte Mason nature study and exploration type of club. It meets once a month and sometimes it will be guided, sometimes not. The wonderful woman who has volunteered to run this club from her home (and land) is just so kind and friendly. Each of my girls had a great time! The older two went hiking off into the woods with their group of girls (about 8 or so). And Alexa stayed in the very large, very serene yard with her age group. There was a sandbox, a trampoline, and an area in the shade that was made into a sort of an outdoors playhouse. There were clotheslines surrounding an area for the young children to play. From the clothesline, there hung beautiful, large, pastel-colored playsilks. They looked so pretty, flowing in the wind under the shade of 3 large trees. And within this "all natural playhouse" was a wooden play kitchen, table and chairs, cloth dolls in wooden cradles and many accessories to go along with it. It was a little girls dream. Although....

I dropped the girls off for this and when I did I asked Alexa, specifically, if she was ok with my leaving (it was supposed to be a dropoff club). She said sure. I drove around, got lost, then found the new Harris Teeter Grocery store and stopped in to pick up a few things. 1/2 way through the trip, I got a phone call stating that Alexa was "nervous" because her sisters had gone off exploring. I told Alexa that was how this club was going to work. She thought she was ok with it, but apparently it upset her more than she thought it would.

But when I got back to her (within 20 minutes), she was fine and barely acknowledged my existence. I was shocked and didn't mention to her that I knew she had been upset, but I was also relieved that she managed to regain her composure without me. She is growing up. She's 1st grade, already! We met some new friends and even Evan had a blast playing in the yard since we had to come back early. It really was a beautiful busy day, full of nature.

TTFN
~Tina

1 comment:

Grandma Jo said...

Sounds like a wonderful day for all of you! And "St. Francis's" place sounds great! Does anyone go into the woods with the kids? How old is the oldest child? I hope they all stick together and watch out for each other esp Sky who is so curious and might wander away accidently. Very good start to the school year! Love you all!