A New Season

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Today we entered a new season in life.  The babies have grown, and they are now off to school.  Micah had his first full day of Kindergarten yesterday, and Jaden started preschool (2x a week) today.  After we dropped Jaden off, Martin and I looked at each other and said, "Wow!"  It is the only word that came to our minds after the long season we were just in.  The season of having two babies under two years apart, with us almost every minute of every day.  Even when Micah went to preschool 3 days a week last year, Jaden was still only 2 years old and needed a lot from me.  But now, they are more independent, and a new chapter has begun.

(Don't be fooled - this is not a gesture of affection, but a rebellion against my picture taking).

Jaden did great on his first day of preschool.  Last week he was nervous to go and meet his teacher (who he already knew), but today he ran right in and barely looked back.  We could tell he was SO proud to be such a big boy and hang his backpack up.  

 

Martin took the morning off, and we had our first babysitter-free date.  We drove to the beach to look for dolphins (my favorite past time), and took our binoculars to look for whales too (there are tons of blue whales off the coast of Redondo right now).  We saw a huge pod of dolphins feeding right off of the shore (only about 20 feet in), and then as I looked through the binoculars, I saw spout after spout of whales shooting water into the air.  There were about 8 or 9 paddle boarders out there, as well as 3 boats, so we knew that was the place to look.  Sure enough, we saw 3 huge whale tails emerge out of the water, and I even saw a whale pass right under a sight-seeing boat and rock it from side to side.  It was SO exciting!!  We decided that for our 11 year anniversary this Saturday, we are going WHALE WATCHING on that exact same boat!! I can't wait!  

(I did not take this, but it is out of Redondo and is exactly what I saw today!!)

After whale watching, we drove to our favorite coffee place (that has an amazing fireplace, old couches and tons of books and chess games).  We ate breakfast and then drove to my other favorite place, Goodwill!  Did some shopping and then came home in time to pick Jaden up.  

(Love the look on his face here)

I had been lamenting this transition for so long, sad that my babies are growing up, and wondering what I would do with these days where Micah is in school.  Now that we have entered the first week of our new routine, I am loving it so far.  On Mondays Martin has the day off, so we will do family fun time with Jaden. Tuesdays I am hoping to volunteer in Micah's class when Jaden's in school.  Wednesdays Jaden and I will do playdates and errands, etc.. Thursdays I have MOPS every other week, and Fridays I get together with 3 other friends for a "mommy playdate" (including our kids) every week.   

Knowing that Micah loves kindergarten is making it easier for me, although I already miss him while he's gone.  However, it is making our times together even better and more enjoyable.  I pick him up at 1:50pm every day and we still have a lot of "day" left it seems.  I am hoping to be involved in his school so I can see him as often as possible.  

I am breathing a sigh of relief, as this season has brought with it newness and refreshment.  We often resist new seasons, but they can bring wonderful things along with them too.