First Day of Kindergarten...

I keep saying it, but it still has yet to sink in.  Today was Mason's first day of school.  To be honest, I have dreaded this day since the day he was born--the inevitable first day of letting go.  We attended "meet the teacher night" last week, and I had the opportunity to meet many of his classmates and their families, as well as see his classroom for the first time.  I walked away with such a peace about him beginning school, and an excitment about him learning Spanish in his dual language class.  I went into this past weekend feeling quite proud of myself that I was so at ease with what would come today.  But then last night, as we were getting the kids ready for bed, picking out clothes for today, and getting lunches ready, it hit me!  Mason is starting school today.   I became very overwhelmed with emotion that carried over into this morning.  He told me a few times last night and this morning that he was feeling a little unsure about things, but for the most part, he seemed very excited.  Here we are getting ready to walk out the door.  Out of all the shirts he owns, he wanted to wear his Johnson Elementary t-shirt on the first day:

Once we got to his classroom, he was very comfortable and confident.  I however, was a wreck inside, just as I had suspected I would be.  It was all I could do to snap a few pictures and get out the door with Ellie before bursting into tears.  But it did make things a lot easier for me to see him so eager to get started on his classwork:

I can hardly wait until school gets out today.  I am so anxious to hear all about his first day!  I decided it would be best if Ellie and I got out of the house this morning and did something together.  Being the animal lover that she is, I took her to feed the ducks at one of our local parks.  As we were pulling up, I only saw a couple of ducks, but as we approached them with a bag of bread, about 25 of them (and a little squirrel too) came out of nowhere:

This was a special time for me.  Not only was it one of the first little outings Ellie and I have had alone, just the two of us, but it was also something that I used to do with Mason several times a week when he was Ellie's age.  And of course, today I had a lot of time to reflect back on those days.

Ellie today, and Mason in the spring of 2006:

And the best part of the day today....
Being there to greet him after school!