1st Day of School...

After a remarkably easy bedtime last night, this morning came pretty quickly. Fortunately, the girls arose with smiles on their faces and a little pep in their step. Unfortunately, Ella's pep only lasted as far as Lily's room. Jason and Ella went in to wake Lily and Ella decided she wasn't quite ready for the day to begin and hopped back into bed with Lily...

We were able to lure them out of bed with the tantalizing smells of sausages and scrambled eggs which they made short work of and then it was time for the age old 1st Day of School photo session...
We arrived at school with time to spare before the flag ceremony so I captured one more shot of Ella and then Grace, Lily and I headed to the flag ceremony leaving Ella and Jason to their own devices...
The Pledge of Allegiance, the school song and a brief welcome message from the principal and it was time to bid my sweet girls adieu. While Grace was just a touch reluctant, she kept a stiff upper lip and began her last year of elementary school with a big old smile... I went to wish Ella farewell and was met with a wobbly upper lip and some tears. Thankfully, I was able to catch her teacher's eye for some much needed back up. Ella's teacher swooped in and tucked Ella under her arm with promises of a wonderful day. Luckily, Jason was there to dry my tears and assure me of the same.


With an entire day ahead of us, Lily and I decided to get busy. A stop at the park was a happy surprise for Lily...

However, it was painfully obvious to Lily, her bookends were missing...

And she quickly discovered playing at the park with just herself, her mom and her shadow isn't nearly as much fun as it is with her best friends...

She said she missed Grace and Ella and I agreed. We occupied ourselves with a few more errands and an afternoon of rollerskating and dragon fly hunting.

Finally, it was time to make our way back to the school and make our picture complete again...

Snacks, homework and tales of the 1st day are taken care of and they are happily playing outside, probably more grateful for each other than they have been in quite some time. If today is any indication of the year to come, I think we are off to a pretty great start.