The first day of school is upon us...already... these past two summers have gone by faster than any other summer's I can remember. After lots of deliberation we opted to move the girls to a school closer to home. Last year when we came over in May looking for a house/school, there weren't many options left for either, not to mention any of which were close together. That said, while we loved many things about Mt. Anville, when we had the opportunity to reduce the commute to 5 minutes, from 45-1 hour each way, we jumped at the chance. Not to mention Castle Park has quite a large international community which we found the girls enjoyed.
Dressed to the nines in their new burgundy track suits (uniforms) we headed out the door, but not before taking our traditional first day of school pictures at the harbor. The girls were really excited, Lo especially. A couple weeks previous she had a half-day at school to get familiar with the routine, etc. During that visit, she meet a little girl named Poppy who left a definite impression and she couldn't wait to get back to school to see Poppy. I didn't have the heart to tell her that she may not be in her class, etc. Lucky for us, Lo and Poppy reconnected and all was right in the world! 
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| Always Posing |
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| Keepin' it Silly... |
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| So hard to get her to smile and look at the camera... all of the pictures with this one are silly ones... |
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| Can't contain her excitement! |
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| On our walk to school we passed this sign... "Welcome to Dalkey" |
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| The new school... an old castle... so cool! |
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| The fields over look the sea side... so jealous of this place... |
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| This girls loves her languages! She was super excited to find out that she would be having French and Gaelic a couple times a week. During dinner the first week, she came home and was teaching us some of her French phrases. She made us repeat them several times to ensure we would remember them. Bonjou, cava? Hello, how are things? |
Annelyse was a little more nervous but still excited and anxious to get back into the school routine. They were great going into their classes with no tears or sad faces... just a few extra hugs and promises to be back promptly at 3pm.
After school they talked the whole way home and were thrilled with all the exciting things they have at school, like swimming, Nature school, language, ICT (which stands for something computers) and Social Studies. I swear Annelyse is in like a miniature middle-school. She has a homework journal with all of her classes listed out by the hour and the majority have a different teacher. Crazy.
Another HUGE positive the girls have found is the hobbies offered after school. They were sent home with a list of hobbies offered and had to record their top three choices for each day. Then Russ made sure to promptly turn it in at 8am the next morning, only to find out Annelyse was the 49th submission... Needless to say, they take these hobbies very seriously!
The one hobby that Annelyse had her heart set on was Junior Gourmet. We joked for a while about how we should switch places and she should go to the office so I can go to school and do all this fun stuff. Yoga, decopage, nature school, science/experiments and library time with art on the side were just some of the options... Can we say JEALOUS... yes, I am.
We did mini-interviews with the girls which produced some funny responses:
Loralye:
- What are you most excited for at school? That I make new friends and have a play-date with Sophia
- What is your favorite color? Pink and Purple, or maybe blue
- What makes you laugh? When people tickle me
- What do you want to be when you grow up? When I turn 10 I am going to be a waitress. When I grow to be 11 I am going to be a doctor and when I grow to 12 I am going to be a dentist so I can give people shots.
- What are you not looking forward to about school? Nothing
- What is your favorite game? The tree tag game (no clue what this is)
- What do you want to learn about this year? All of it
- What is your favorite food? Mashed potatoes, baked beans and sausage
- What is your favorite dessert? Chocolate krispies with marshmallows
- Where is your favorite place to go? Swimming pool
- What is your favorite snack? Raisins and banana
- What is your favorite book? Elsa & Anna
- What words describe you? I'm four... silly, polite, I don't hit, I don't fight
- What is your favorite memory from the summer? Going to the Meddles and bike riding with Daddy. And going to town to get ice-cream and a magazine.
Annelyse:
- What are you most excited for at school? Doing hobbies and Junior Gourmet
- What is your favorite color? Purple, Turquoise and Pink
- What makes you laugh? When daddy pretends to do toots in the bed.
- What do you want to be when you grow up? I don't know
- What are you not looking forward to about school? Taking my pajamas off in the morning.
- What is your favorite game? Probably the Shopkins Game
- What do you want to learn about this year? Science
- What is your favorite food? Macaroni and Cheese
- What is your favorite desert? This brownie at school that has with creamy jelly and whip cream
- Where is your favorite place to go? California
- What is your favorite snack? Tuc Crackers
- What is your favorite book? Possy the Kitten
- What words describe you? Sweet, nice, kind and thoughtful
- What is your favorite memory from the summer? When we had company
The other favorite thing about the school is all the sports they get to do. Both girls swim a couple times a week and Annelyse plays field hockey, complete with an outfit, shin guard and a gum shield. Russ even caved and bought them both their own hockey sticks... just what they needed to complete the ensemble.
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| Annelyse asked if we could go take her picture at the harbor on the first day she wore her "other uniform" to school. Glad I don't always have to be the one forcing the pictures to be taken! |
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| And of course, Lo wanted in on the action/attention, however Annelyse wasn't having any of it, because of course, seeing that Loralye had her "same old uniform on" it was ridiculous that she even suggested being in the picture with her. Good Morning Dalkey... so glad you got to wake up to the sounds of sisters fighting as we try to capture such precious memories. |
As a reward for a good start to the school year we surprised the girls with a trip to Tayto Park... the local amusement park. It really is amazing we haven't made it to this place before. The girls were beyond geeked! Always excited to go on a mini-road trip! Especially to go to a FUN FAIR!
Surprisingly, none of us liked it. But, always good to give new things a go! I think everyone was just excited to get inside and see all the fun things to do!
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| Not feeling it! Just wanted to run full speed ahead into the park! |
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| It's too bright! |
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| Mr. Tayto! |
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| Getting ready to head into the maze... there were several of these throughout the park and the girls got a big kick out of hiding in them and trying to make their way out. |
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| These geese were incredible... I have never seen anything like them. Their tail feathers looked almost like flower petals. Really beautiful. However, their inner spirts did not match their outer beauty... these suckers were about ready to bite your head off. You can see the one there eyeing Lo... Poor thing didn't know what was coming! |
They wasted no time getting all harnessed in. Lucky for us they were too small to go alone, so we had to accompany them on the course. Lo picked Russ as her buddy and Annelyse and I were partners.
There were 3 levels to choose from. For once in her life, Lo was the reasonable one and opted to go on the first level. Annelyse was feeling quite ambitious that day an chose level 2. Which meant I too got to go on level 2... why child... Of course there was a wait to get through level 2 so we got to watch Russ and Lo navigate the ropes. I think this extra waiting caused Annelyse to contemplate her decision.
However, there was no going back, so we took lots of deep breaths and discussed how secure all the ropes were!
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| All strapped in! |
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| Ready to go! |
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| Russ and Lo starting across level 1. She had no fear and moseyed right across. In fact she was practically running from one set of obstacles to the next. The positive side of being delayed going up to the second level was we got to take some pictures of them on the course. |
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| They got done with the first level so quickly, Lo insisted on running up and doing the second level with us. Here they were right behind us. We were quite a ways up there! Annelyse wanted me to stay close to her, but staying close meant that every step I took wobbled the rope, which was not appreciated. There was a fine balance between staying close enough, but not moving too much... I never did seem to strike just the right balance. |
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| Almost done... on their way down. Needless to say, after Level 2, neither of them wanted to go again. It was even a bit windy up there which made the whole experience even more exhilarating! |
After successfully making it down the ropes course, we ventured over to some safer options. A massive, but trusty playground was next on the agenda along with a train ride and some rides. The slides on this thing were super slick... not to mention the girls stretch pants made for some super-fast slide rides!
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| Lo loves her Mr. Tayto! |
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| I don't know how they like this ride... Lo was practically on the ground by the end from trying to spin the thing. |
After the rides we headed over to the mining exhibition. The girls got a big kick of our searching for all kinds of stones and gems!
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| There was even a REAL Mr. Tayto... Lo was a little leery, so Annelyse was happy to comfort her. She looks like such a mom here watching Loralye's expression as she intently stares down Mr. Tayto. |
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| Russ trying to find the next thing to do... or the exit... hard to tell :) The girls and I were giggling at him from the carousal. Not sure why he didn't want to go on that with us! |
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| The only picture we took at the zoo... the girls were more interested in the rides here than the animals, but we all loved this little guy and his lovely seat! |
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| By far our favorite ride... if you pushed the bar up your plane went sailing higher! |
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| Lo kept referring to herself as the pilot and every time I tried to touch the bar, she would tell me that she was the pilot of the plane and was responsible for steering. More or less, keep your hands to yourself! |
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| We rode this thing several times... as soon as it stopped they bee-lined back to the line for another turn! |
Another great start to the year...blessed in so many ways!
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