Claire convinced Molly to do a blind taste test today. Their nanny, Sarah, sent us this picture of the fun with the caption, “Blind taste test was fun. Molly was a great sport!”
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Spring Break / Jumpoline / St. Patrick’s Day
Grammy Joyce was in town for a few days while I went to South By Southwest Interactive 2015 and the kids started Spring Break. With Joyce around, I could stay at SXSW and not hurry back to get the girls. Plus the kids just like to see her.
Today, our nanny Sarah took over watching the kids for the rest of the week. They kicked things off with lunch at Jason’s Deli and a fun trip to Jumpoline Park (see photo). That was a good way to kick things off in a week where most of the girls’ friends have left for vacation and we’re stuck here at work.
Also, it was St. Patrick’s day. Don’t the girls look good in green?
Sleepover
Claire’s absolute most favorite thing in the world is having a sleepover with her friends. We host sometimes but tend to get a little worn out juggling Claire’s friends’ needs with Molly’s, and with our work often bleeding into the weekends and getting into the way. Anyways, here’s a rare picture of Claire enjoying a sleepover at her friend Susie’s house.
The Solar System
Here is the Solar System that Claire put together for school. She worked hard in this, and even took it on our weekend trip to Houston so she could finish it. It came out great! Claire even added her own flair such as the asteroid belt.
But sadly, that is the Earth laying there on the ground. It became unseated and fell off unceremoniously to the floor. Tragedy happens.
No More Car Seat
The other day, Claire suggested that she might not need a kid’s car booster seat any more. At first I thought, “Of course she needs a booster seat! Only really big kids can ride without a booster!” Well, guess what. Claire is a big kid now. We tested out the seat belt on her without a booster, and it was just fine.
Our baby is all grows up!
Trying a Bike
Today, Molly took it upon herself to try out Claire’s old bike that has been siting around unused in the back yard. She convinced me to help her clean it up and pump up the tires. Molly got around alright with the training wheels. She may be bypassing her big sister soon, who has so far shown very little interest in biking.
Molly Rides the Bus
Molly rode the school bus home for the first time today. It was a brave step for a Pre-K kid like Molly to hop onto a gigantic, loud bus full of big kids as old as 12. Molly was barely as tall as the lowest step on the bus. But Molly did it with full confidence, no complaints, and no problems.
This was an accomplishment for Claire too. Being in Pre-K, Molly gets out at 2:00 rather than 2:45. Molly goes to Extend-a-Care for 45 minutes, at which point Claire gets out of class and picks up Molly. Claire actually has to find Molly and her stuff, sign her out, and get her across school in halls clogged with 895 other kids, to the bus before it leaves. This is also challenge because Molly is a bit of a slow walker. The teachers, Extend-a-Care staff, the bus driver were all prepared for this, and they all helped make it safe and easy to get Molly to the bus. The bus driver and Claire have kept careful watch on Molly to make sure she is alright on the bus. I had asked Claire if she wanted me to go through the process with her once or twice, but she immediately declined, saying she could handle it on her own. Way to go, Claire and Molly!
Molly was excited about riding the bus home, which is good because it is quite helpful for everyone. Up to this point, Claire had been riding the bus home by herself. While Molly stayed at Extend-a-Care, Claire did homework with her nanny Sarah. When Claire was doing something independent like reading, then Sarah would run and get Molly, which took about 45 to 60 minutes door-to-door, including some playground time. This was fine since I was upstairs working from home every day. This changed when I took a new job working at the Whole Foods headquarters. Now Sarah would have to take Claire with her to pick up Molly at Extend-a-Care. Before I started my new job, we did some test runs. It became painfully clear that Claire would not have the time she need to finish her homework if she was also pickup up Molly. Claire was up late, sometimes finishing her homework, up early the next morning to catch up, and some nights in tears. Now, with Molly riding the bus home, they can all stay at home and do homework, etc. without having to head back out into the traffic. Everyone seems to love the new arrangement, although it leaves Sarah with the challenge of keeping Molly from distracting Claire during her homework time.
Morning Drop Off
Claire has been walking Molly into school in the mornings. She drops Molly off at class and then heads off to her own class. Watching Claire and Molly cross the street together and head up the hill towards school is just about the most precious thing I have ever seen.
Molly’s First Homework Assignment
This is a picture of Molly by her first real homework assignment. Her job was to put together a family tree. Molly was initially excited about the project but got tired of it after a while, as expressed in this picture. Our sparse family tree provided plenty of extra space to decorate with random stickers, which Molly carefully arranged.
McG Kids 