Back to School "Party"

When J began First Grade, Miss Girl (his cousin) was going into Kindergarten. We got together to celebrate this momentous occasion. (Click HERE to see.) That was 2008. Last year Aunt T and I were actually so organized we had a THEME. Both of us were going to cover Oceanography. (Click HERE for that exciting post.)

This year, though, we kind of decided to wing it and have a day of "activity."

First we went to a park. It was 78 degrees and sunny, so we HAD to go to a park! This one was also a military memorial (hence the canon a few pics down):

This picnic table needed to be conquered:

Then, it was conquered by two:

After the park, we stopped for ice cream. It was, after all, a sunny day. Our final destination was a concert given by a local group that offers "matinee" performances for children. We got there early, so the kids had opportunity to pose on stumps:

Hug a tree:

Sit on a rock:

And generally let off the energy produced by the ice cream:

The doors opened for the concert and we settled in. They provide a program with the selected pieces which are chosen according to a theme. (Yay, a "theme" DID happen!) This week's focus was "Form."

Aunt T and Miss Girl sat separately so that we could explain things as the instrumentalists played.

For the last song, they allowed the children to come up on the stage so that could "feel" the music around them.

Then, we went home. The new school year's start has been commemorated with play, music, and ice cream. We're off to a great new year!