Happy Fall (and a bunch of firsts)!

Happy fall!  Why does "First Day of Fall" typed at the bottom of today's block on the calendar make it feel so official?  I have no idea, but it does (at least for me).  Things are heating up a little bit, temperature-wise, for us today (high of 81), but that won't get me down since it's officially fall.

In addition to the first day of fall, here are all of the other firsts we've been experiencing around here lately.

Syd's first day of Kindergarten (September 6th), and showing off her new Doc McStuffins watch (acquired for less than $3 at the grocery store), which proved to be extremely uncomfortable (I won't say, "I told you so"):

She loves her new backpack, but would have preferred that it also have a strap that buckles across her chest, for when she carries around 3 - 4 textbooks, or when she backpacks across America:

She doesn't ride the bus to school in the mornings because it picks up too early (we would all have to walk her to the bus stop before 7 a.m.), so we load up in the car at 7:40 a.m. and drive the mile to school.  We drop her off at the "kiss and ride" area, and then are back in our driveway by 7:50 a.m.  Sometimes she's the only one dressed for this excursion.

She does ride the bus home in the afternoons!  

She's gotten over it, but Lorelei has been pretty miffed lately over all of the fun things Sydney gets to do (like riding the bus):

One way she's been able to get over her jealousy is by attending 3-year old church choir.  (These pictures are all basically the same, but I'm going to post them all anyway.):

Our church's Wednesday night fall activities kicked off September 7th, including the children's choirs.  Lorelei just missed last year's age cutoff; she's in the youngest choir for 3-year olds, even though she'll turn four soon.   I noticed that she's probably the oldest child in her choir, and with that comes a lot of self-imposed responsibility.  She's very proud to finally be a part of things, and I watched her listen very closely and participate fully, even though the majority of the children in her line were quite distracted (what 3-year old isn't?!).

She was thrilled to finally start preschool September 8th.  She's in the Monkey's class:

She chose to take Sydney's old backpack to school:

There is a tradition in our neighborhood where on the first Friday of the school year we gather for a little celebration in a neighbor's yard.  I didn't get any pictures of the actual party, but I had to photograph these adorable pencil snacks (cheese sticks, bologna, cream cheese, Bugles, and raisins):

Lorelei finally started dance class (ballet) last week (she attends on Tuesdays).  She had a very ballerina-appropriate meal right beforehand, a McDonald's cheeseburger:

And then just yesterday, again at ballet, she wore this hand-me-down "angel" outfit for the first time (the girls love this outfit, as do I):

Not her first time to wear such a cheesy smile though.

Happy fall, y'all!