The first day of school...ever!!

The night before school started as Maddie and I were laying out her new school clothes for the next day she looked up at me and said in an excited little 5 year old voice, "I must be dreaming!" Yeah, Maddie, I must be dreaming too because I could have sworn that we JUST brought you home from the hospital. I can't even believe she is old enough to go to school. But she is and today was her first day!

The countdown is over...

She put her backpack and shoes by the front door the night before...

We packed her lunch (also the night before)...

We set our alarms for 7am so we could leave the house at 7:40am... 

but wait...

we woke up at 7:36am!!

Unbeknownst to me, I set the alarm for 7PM not 7AM! And because I'm such a crazy picture person my first thought was DARN, I won't be able to take any "first day of school" pictures! 

I was a little worried that poor Maddie would be the very last kid rolling in at 8:30 on her first day of school. But it all actually worked out just fine. I didn't want Maddie to feel rushed and nervous her first day so I didn't even let on that we were late. We all got dressed, brushed teeth, grabbed a nutra-grain bar and were out the door by 7:50am!! (yeah, I was impressed too.)

Here's Maddie having a contemplative moment in the car...

It's a good thing she has such a fun brother, he made her laugh for the rest of the car ride...

We miraculously pulled up to the school at 7:59am!

(what a dusty car)

We were definitely not the last ones to arrive. We had a long line if front and behind us.

Headed into the building with owl, her Dad and Lyndon...

waiting in yet another line to enter the building starting to feel a little nervous...

and now feeling really nervous...

my little cutie pie...

waiting by her classroom...

Her teacher, Miss Kim, showing them where to hang their backpacks...

And that's it...we left her. It was just the 3 of us and we felt a little empty...

I'm happy to report that there were no tears. None from Maddie and none from me.

Just excitement.

The countdown begins!

School in finally on the horizon in the Evans home! Maddie starts school in only 3 short days. Jonathon and I can't believe it. We went to the "meet your teacher" tonight and I almost burst into tears at least 3 times. She's ready. She's been ready for a few years now. It's Jonathon and I who still need more time.

We made these countdowns so the kids can see just how many more days until Maddie is gone...

She starts on Tuesday and more pictures and tears will follow. :)

the owl

Maddie got the cutest backpack EVER! You be the judge, but come on...just look at how adorable that owl is! I needed a few pics for my photo blog so Maddie helped me out. Charlie and Lyndon had to get in a few too.

our new baby.

how adorable is he?

guess who's the better artist?

Maddie and Lyndon came to me and asked if I would draw them a seahorse. Sure, no problem. So I starting drawing but for some reason I just couldn't figure out how it looked. I drew the first one and knew that wasn't right so I tried seahorse #2, still off. It looked more like a sea monster than a seahorse.

So then they went to Jonathon...he totally showed me up! Check out his seahorse...Can you guess whose is whose?

The bats.

One of the big tourist attractions downtown Austin during the summer is...the bats. I don't know if you realized but Austin has the world largest bat population in the world!! They sleep under the Congress Bridge during the day and then at dusk they all fly out! There are over a million of them so you can imagine what a sight it is (and how stinky it gets).

We've lived here for 5 years and this was the first time we went to the bridge to see them. Our friends, The Barlows and The Willards joined us. It was so fun. All of our kids are are the same age and get along so well. After we watched the bats we went to Rita's for Italian ice. yum, yum. It was HOT but so fun.

We took Charlie along. Everyone kept stopping say how adorable he is. We agree!

We all brought lots of treats to keep the kids entertained.

Lyndon, Maddie and Lucy sharing some candy.

Beautiful Stella.

Stella and beautiful Momma, Lonna.

There is a huge crowd every night!

Maddie and Lucy.

The bats...

People even watch them right on the Lake.

The best we could get of all the kids...