My baby started kindergarten!

Yesterday was her first day and she did great! She was a little nervous beforehand, but both the Deac and I came along to drop her off. The teacher let us stay for a few minutes and by the time we left she was playing happily. There were a lot of other parents there and even though we were *technically* the last ones out the door, we weren't clingy or anything. She went with half her class yesterday and the other half went today (so she go the day off) and everyday classes with everyone begin tomorrow. This week Maura is also transitioning to the Preschool room at daycare. She is MORE than ready for this move and has been anticipating it for quite a while. Here's my two beans yesterday morning before I dropped them off:
Our family gathering this weekend was a lot of fun. It was great to see everyone and the girls had a blast playing with their cousins (first cousins, once removed) Kayla and Luke. I got a couple of fun shots with my camera:





















There are some other photos over in my flickr badge, too!

I went to a meeting for new soccer coaches last night and am excited to be coaching Maura's team. There really isn't much involved for the under-4 age group. The point is simply to help them have fun. Plus, I found out Maura's very bestest friend in the whole universe is going to be on her team! They are both excited about that.

Today is the first day this month for which nothing is written on our home calendar - no wonder we have been feeling exhausted with almost constant scheduling! We do have a few things to do tonight, but nothing too strenuous and it will be nice to spend time as a family.

Our Disney trip is all planned for this fall! Here's a basic breakdown of our itinerary:

Day 1 - we arrive in Orlando around 4:30 pm and will head to our Disney resort via shuttle. Dinner at Downtown Disney.

Day 2 - Animal Kingdom day just because of the way character dining worked out (but we have ParkHoppers, so we can always change our minds and go to more than one park in a day). That night, Halloween party at Magic Kingdom.

Day 3 - Magic Kingdom day. Breakfast at the Crystal Palace with Pooh and Friends. Dinner at Cinderella's Royal Table with the Fairy Godmother.

Day 4 - Epcot day. Lunch with the princesses at Akershus.

Day 5 - MGM Studios day. Breakfast at Playhouse Disney's Play-n-Dine with the Little Einsteins.

Day 6 - check out, get rental car and drive to Sanibel Island for the next 4 days before we fly home! It will be so fun and a much-needed vacation! We are all excited.

One last thing - I found a great resource today that I'm really excited about! I've been listening when I can to Ancient Faith Radio, but it turns out they have podcasts! One of them is a podcast of Orthodox children's books being read aloud. I know the kids will love this and subscribed immediately! I also subscribed to a couple others. Now to find the time to listen.... But I thought some of you might be interested in this as well. Happy listening!