First Day of School

 11th Grade and 8th Grade. Plus a bonus of Kari's first day as a junior in college. :-)

Grant made the first-day-of-school cookies. 

More CBU and Disney

In the whirlwind of the past few days, I haven’t had time to process all my emotions and thoughts (this was purposeful and strategic). But now, sitting in the airport, waiting for our plane to get a new tire (delay of about an hour), I have time to think. Joel’s college drop-off could not have been more different that Kari’s first year. Kari’s first steps on campus her freshman year were filled with paralyzing fear and tears and uneasiness with the unknown. Joel was all smiles and could hardly wait to get there! Thankfully, Kari loves Cal Baptist now, but boy, was it a rough drop-off that first year—for her and for us! I sobbed for 45 minutes after we said goodbye and drove away. 

I shed some tears saying goodbye to Joel. Apparently, as I hugged him tight and held on a bit longer than usual, Joel looked questioningly over my head to Greg, unsure of what to do. Greg gestured for him to just give me a little extra hug time, and reassured him it would be ok. ☺️ And it was. I recovered quickly, and we left to head to Disney for the evening. Knowing Joel was not sad or scared made it so much easier to leave him! 

The last couple days of Disney with our kids (minus Joel) and with friends has been so much fun. My feet and legs are toast (seriously hobbled my way back to the hotel last night), but my heart is full. We worked our Disney magic and did everything we wanted to do and many things more than once. I even gave Guardians another try and confirmed, yet again, that I do not like that ride. We found a new favorite fireworks viewing spot and learned that showing up late for our World of Color reservation made for excellent viewing from above.  I did get my anniversary churro and Ghirardelli sundae, so all boxes were checked.  

Time to make a grocery list and meal plan and then switch back to teacher mode. First day of school is tomorrow! 

Get that tire fixed, Alaska Airlines! I’ve got things to do!

CBU Drop-off

We had such a fun day today, dropping off Joel for his first year at CBU. Yes, I cried when I hugged him goodbye, but I’m not sad for him. I can’t be when he is SO happy and excited to be there!  He has his sister (move-in is Sunday), two cousins, and a bunch of friends with him. He was meeting people and making new friends already on day one. God has him right where he is supposed to be.

Joel was so excited to get there the day of move-in. We met Greg and Kari, who had driven down, on campus and made our way to his dorm where we quickly got him unpacked and moved in. It was quite the party in his hall. We went to the campus store and stocked up on more CBU gear, had lunch at the Caf, and went to the academic fair in the afternoon. The parent meeting ended at 5pm, and we said goodbye. 

I talked Greg into going to Disney DCA that evening, and while it wasn't the best Disney experience we've ever had (long lines to get in and very crowded), I was glad we went. We had nothing else to do, and Kari was able to go to DCA with us and ride the big rides, which was not part of the original plan. I felt good about utilizing that third day of our tickets, too, which we were not planning on doing. (Crazy how the three-day tickets were cheaper than the two-day.) Our spontaneous plan had a few hitches is in, but it was worth doing.