The day has finally come...

....First day of Kindergarten!!!

We have been driving Avery by her new school several times this summer, to show her the new big school. We purchased a brand new bookbag and matching lunch box and a long list of school supplies. She was very excited and couldn't wait to wear her new bookbag - she even went to check on it daily after we bought it. She would look at it and say 'Yep, there it is, it's ok!'

I took lots of pics and even a video while she ate her first breakfast as a kindergartener, but forgot to get video of her at school! It was quite hectic and crowded, so the pics will have to do!

 

 

First day under our belt......Afternoon carpool

 

Kindergarten Meet & Greet

Well, we got the teacher I had hoped we would!!! She did Avery's skills test at registration back in April and she was the teacher that sat in on Avery's IEP Transition Meeting. She also happens to be friends with many of our neighbors/friends! She is a good mix of sweet and loving, but firm when she needs to be.....just what Avery needs!

Mrs Downey

(this is what I get for taking my point and shoot, blurry pics!)



As we were walking in, we ran into an old friend. Remember Hannah? She is the daughter of Avery's teacher last year that just adores Avery. She was with her best friend who happens to live at the end of our street. Hannah showed us around...holding Avery's hand the whole time :)

I snapped this when we went for our private tour. She is now a Knox Knight!

Stone Mountain

 We took Avery to Stone Mountain for the first time a few weeks ago. It was a spur-of-the-moment thing, so we were a bit unprepared....which, as you know, is not how I roll! First off, it ended up being 98 degrees that day! So we spent a small fortune on beverages to keep her hydrated and spent a lot of time in gift shops cooling off. We put off going to the top of the mountain until later in the afternoon, hoping it wouldn't be as hot....good idea, but didn't quite cool off....when it's 98 it doesn't really 'cool off'. This is where Avery showed us we had pushed too far! She literally melted in Tripp's arms, so we headed back down the mountain after a snack inside in the AC and me dumping water on her in the ladies room. The park has a new mini water park, and thankfully I just happen to have a towel and swimsuit in my car for her - but we had to make her go in the water park!


Here are a few pics from our day at Stone Mountain...

Train ride around the mountain - shaded, but still hot!

Yogi Bear 4D movie - cold AC and Yogi splashes you with water as he goes down a river. This was Avery's first 3D movie and she did great wearing the glasses and loved it when Yogi splashed her.

Cooling off in the tiniest piece of shade ontop of the mountain



This is where she melted...

When she didn't want to go into the water park, we found this tiny stream...

...and finally had to make her go into the water park!

 

Ready for the Duck ride (truck that turns into a boat and goes in the water)

Everyone gets a fun duck whistle

She spotted these monkies at one of our many shop visits/cool off breaks. In typical Avery fashion, she yapped about this monkey the entire day until she finally broke Daddy (but we all know he had already planned to buy it for her - we just didn't want to lug it around all day). Right before the Laser Show, we finally purchased a monkey. She wanted the blue one all day, but in the end, went with the pink one. We snapped this picture because she literally walked around with them both forever before deciding!

 

Laser Show time!



Tooth Fairy Already?

We've had a loose bottom tooth for a while now, and Thursday night at dinner, we noticed it was gone! It was there when we started dinner, so we can only assume she swallowed it :) 

My! The Tooth Fairy sure is a lot more generous than when I was a kid!

PreK Graduation and Last Day Party....sniff, sniff

Our sweet girl did it, she graduated PreK!!! As much as I was not a fan of this school when we first started, we've grown to love the people we have met! I will miss these sweet kids faces that I have seen for the last three years, but I will also miss our little group of mom's! We've been navigating this crazy special needs world and school system together for three years and not a single one of them will be at Avery's school next year :( 

Avery and Ms Barb (teacher's aid from her second year at Ralph Bunche)

Ms Gaby and Ms Monica (Special Ed PreK teachers)

Ms Jennifer and Ms Linette (Inclusion PreK teachers)

Hannah is Ms Linette's daughter, who helped with parties and other functions and took a special liking to Avery :)

Nurse Kim (Avery made almost weekly visits to see her - they got to know each other quite well)

Ms Carrie (Avery's OT, oh, and baby Grace)

Avery's sweet friend Leah that we have known since the girls were 2 years old. At least we will still get to see Leah at our therapy clinic! But, I sure will miss having her mom at school!

Last day of Pre-K

Avery and sweet Logan

Avery with Logan and Leah

Avery with Logan, Leah and Caden

Ms Jennifer (and baby Henry!)

Ms Linette

Ms Gaby