First Day of School (and more!)

Abbie started school on Monday. It was only a half day, but it was a whirlwind. She is not used to changing classes and being on a relatively large campus, so there was a fair bit of stress (I think) but she did great with it. She is loving all the stimulation that comes from having lots of different teachers, a required iPad, a locker, etc. She is exhausted at night, but is always desperate to get to school early every morning.

First Day Photo (She insisted on wearing the skort, but has already realized how much more comfortable the jumper is!)

As for choices in the curriculum, she was allowed to choose French, Spanish, or Latin as her foreign language. Following in Dad's footsteps, she chose French and Chad has already been reviewing the material with her. Fortunately, they keep the kids with no prior French instruction in a separate class, so everyone is starting from the same place.

She also had a choice in terms of signing up for band, strings, or chorus. Not surprisingly, she chose strings and has become somewhat of a rock star already. Some of the kids have never played a string instrument before. Yesterday, one girl whispered to another and Abbie watched the girl's eyes widen before she blurted at Abbie, "You're the four and a half year kid!" So, apparently rumors of her prior experience have been circulating. :)

Abbie also had a choice between P.E. and ballet. As most of the girls do, Abbie chose ballet. Here, she is the one who is in awe of the other girls. Many of them have been dancing for years, and Abbie was totally overwhelmed when the teacher started giving all the directions in French. The other kids seemed to know exactly what was going on, but Abbie had no clue!

Overall, the transition to the new school has gone really well. The school (and the other families) definitely go out of their way to make newbies feel welcome. We have an official host family, but many other families that we know in other ways have reached out to answer questions, meet with us, etc.

Abbie with some of her fellow classmates the day before school started. The girl in the middle is also new this year.

As for other big news, if you looked closely at Abbie's school photo above, you might notice that she now has pierced ears! After asking and waiting patiently for over a year, we finally let her take the plunge. Being the OCD parents that we are, we did plenty of research and made sure to take her to a specialized piercing studio to have it done with a real needle rather than with the standard gun that they use at places like Claire's.

Marking the exact spot!

It was fun to watch the guy work, and Abbie is very happy with the result. This particular place is in San Diego, which was a week long stop at the tail-end of our giant summer road trip. Speaking of our road trip, I think that Abbie enjoyed it. She documented a lot of it on her iPad and uploaded some videos to her YouTube Channel. I am not that sophisticated, so I will just post a few photos from various locations. :)

Hiking Emerald Pools in Zion

The Emerald Pools hike is pretty strenuous (pretty much right up a mountain). It definitely took a toll on Abbie, partially because of the heat, but you can't tell in this photo.

Resting in Arches

Both girls had a blast climbing around on the rocks in Arches. This photo was taken right near The Windows.

In Las Vegas

This "statue" is actually a real person. He was so good at being a statue that we almost walked right past him while in Vegas. Abbie, Emily and Chad had already passed by. The only thing that stopped me was all the money lying in front of him. I stopped just long enough to wonder why people would put money in front of a statue. Then I looked into his eyes and realized that he was real. I made the girls take a look at him and he was kind enough to change position and pose with them. They were both just amazed.

Grand Canyon (obviously)

The last photo was taken right outside of our hotel (El Tovar), shortly after we arrived. The hotel has a reputation for being haunted, but we did not come across any ghosts during our stay (thankfully). As you can tell, it was an action-packed adventure!