I am determined to get this blog caught up. Monday, August 31st was Ella's birthday. I'd been able to find some birthday banners the day before that we could hang up for when she woke up. We started the morning with tea, rusks and strawberries. A family tradition that we have carried on from my Dad. The kids did tons of bouncing on the trampoline.
At 1:00pm we had a date to go meet the principal, Lisa, at Richmond Primary School. We walked to school, a 17 minute walk. We always need to stop a lot because Amelie gets very "itchy". I don't know what happens to her, but her ankles, hips, face, nose, etc... all start to itch when she has either has to walk long distances or get her hair brushed...hmmmm? Anyway, Lisa was very warm and kind. She showed us all around the school. The school has kindy (preschool) all the way through year 8. The classrooms are in a U-shape with all the doors going outside to a central grassy area with tables. There are 2 classes for each grade. Amelie is in year 1 with Mrs. Cuthbert who seems very nice. Her regular teacher, Mrs. O'Niel, has been out for the past 8 weeks with a broken knee. The kids had made her a welcome card, which they all signed, and have been studying the USA anticipating her arrival. Amelie scoped out a girl with "curly hair who seemed really nice." She decided she wanted to be friends with her. Next we went to Ella's class. She has Mrs. Weston (last year Ella had Mrs. Westkott!) who is a very nice, fun lady. They also made Ella a welcome card and have been studying Narragansett. They had a printout picture of the coast guard house and tower on their white board! Then they all sang Happy Birthday to Ella. Yes, I got tears in my eyes, being the sentimentalist that I am. Liam had also brought in a birthday card for Ella. All so incredible. There are 4 kids in Ella's class that live on the same street as us.
We came home and had cheesecake (Ella's request). The kids jumped a lot more on the tramp and then we (they) had steak for dinner (also Ella's request). By the end of the day, the kids could barely move anymore from all the jumping.
The next morning (Tuesday) was the first day of school, which was kind of ironic as Narragansett was also starting on Tuesday. At all public schools here the children wear uniforms. Richmonds uniform is a goldenrod colored polo shirt and some sort of navy blue on the lower half, whether it be leggings, jazz pants (yoga), sweats, shorts, skorts or skirt. It makes mornings really easy not to have to think about clothes! We left the house at 8:15 and school runs from 8:45-3:00. They were very excited and had no trouble staying at school.
Pieter and I went home and had a low-key day and were back to pick them up at 3:00. We got an invite to tea for the next day from a girl named Samantha from Ella's class. They live 7 doors down from us.
Rob also started work this day and had a good day getting settled there and is excited about his new job.
No comments:
Post a Comment