"I don't want to just stand here and smile, Mom."
So she did a dance.
Just for fun. Here is last year, the first day of second grade. No dancing, but Milena was able to get in there a bit.
The first day of first grade, which also was Claire's birthday.
The first day of kindergarden in Maine. Again, the first day was on her birthday. We had to make a stop at her old preschool before heading over to the grade school to make sure we got a Happy Birthday Ribbon sticker. And that purple lunchbox. We just retired that one this year, and its full of every lunchbox note I wrote her over the past three years. She still won't part with any of them, and a requirement for the new one was a special pouch to keep all future notes in.
Preschool, the second year. I had to be fast with the camera for this one. She was SO excited to get in there. She's wearing probably the third pair of red Keds, having out grown them so quickly. They were her 'basketball shoes', and obviously, they went with every outfit.
And finally, the first day of the first year of preschool. The first day of school ever. We didn't even have a backpack for her. She used her strawberry purse she got from Jim and Monnie as a flower girl present at their wedding. Clearly, this was a very serious day.
Seriously. Five years.
