Back to School and Picking up Mike
We got home from the Baltic Cruise 8pm the night before school started. I had purchased all the kids school supplies and bagged them up for each of them so they’d be ready. Babysitter Emily N had the kids in jammies, the house straightened and the laundry done – which was wonderful! We loaded backpacks, made lunches, and tucked Emily and Megan in – chatting about how exciting it was to start a new school year. Emily N. had taken the kids to the School Open House on Friday so they already knew who their teachers were.
It’s a big year for Ryan. HIGH SCHOOL. We’d missed the freshman orientation being on the Cruise so he really was walking into school without knowing a thing. The night before he asked Dad for a blessing – but other than that acted confident and calm about the big day. Chris was kind of worried for him. He took off for the bus at 7:00… but only for this week. Seminary starts next week!
Katie was starting 7th grade at the Middle School so she had a pretty good idea of how things worked. I think she was excited about seeing friends again and getting into a routine. We had requested that she be in 7B which is the team Ryan was on when he was in 7th grade and were crossing our fingers that she would be. She took the bus to school at 7:20.
At 7:40 I drove Emily and Megan to school. Elementary kids get the royal treatment. We found their teacher’s signs and lined up outside with their class. Lots of excitement.
Megan had Mrs. Dysinger again, which is what we were hoping for. Last year her class was a multi-age (1st and 2nd graders) but this year it was strictly 2nd Grade.
Emily got Mrs. Smith – who seems wonderful – in a multi-age (3rd and 4th grade) class – she was excited to have Brooklyn and Riley in her class.
Friends from church, Lindsey and Ally got into the same 5th grade class.
Picking Up Mike… After snapping a few photos of the kids and waving good bye Luke, Matthew and I took off for the Frankfurt Airport to go pick up Mike. We knew he’d have gotten off the plane before we could get up there so we set a meeting point where we could come find him. I wish I took a picture of the boys when we found him. They were SO excited!!! He was sitting at a table right by the top of the escalator so as soon as we got up there we saw him and they started jumping up and down… “Mike!”
We headed down to the van and drove back towards Heidelberg. First we stopped at Chris’ office and had salad bar lunch with him, then we headed over to the commissary to stock up on food. Not too exciting but Mike still managed to take 100 pictures of the boys asking for food and being silly in the aisles. We stocked up on treats and essentials and headed home. We gave Mike the grand tour and then he settled in for a jet lag nap, not getting much sleep on his flight in. I was thrilled that he needed a nap. Just a couple hours and I was already tired of him. Kidding, I had groceries to put away and a ton of others things to catch up on before our fun week could start. Such as…
After school cookies… The kids came in the door pretty excited to see Mike, but since he was still sleeping they had to contain their excitement and munch on cookies instead while they answered my questions about the new school year.
Megan’s Questions:
- What are you most excited for? everything.
- What are you NOT looking forward to? William.
- What was your favorite part of the day? Recess.
- What’s your schedule? Writing, snack, spanish, lunch, specials, pack up.
- Who is your teacher? Mrs. Dysinger again.
- Do you know anyone in your class? YES. I know 17 people.
- Who do you sit by? It changes every day.
Emily’s Questions:
- What are you most excited for? chasing the boys at recess everyday and having a lot of friends.
- What are you NOT looking forward to? hard projects
- What was your favorite part of the day? Recess.
- What’s your schedule? morning math, classroom work, snacks, specials (art, PE, music, Host Nation), more classroom work, Lunch, Recess, FLES (Spanish) every other day, pack up.
- Who is your teacher? Mrs. Smith
- Do you know anyone in your class? YES. I know Alexia, Brooklyn, Riley, Dougie, and Francesca.
- Who do you sit by? I sit by Joshua.
Katie is thrilled to be in Team 7B. Her schedule is:
- Language Arts: Mr. Osborne – so lucky to have him. Fantastic teacher!!!
- Math 8: Mrs. Knisley
- World Geography: Mr. Bugg
- German 1 (High School Credit): Mrs. Jackson
- Science: Ms. Halsey
- Electives: PE for half the year / ART for the other half
Ryan’s first day of High School was ‘awesome’. Nothing to worry about. His schedule is:
- Honors Language Arts 9: Ms. Cook – she’s awesome!
- Honors World History 9: Mr. Dilfer -- Mr. Dilfer and Ms. Cook teach separate classes but work together for projects and such. It’s a fun combo.
- Biology: Ms. Day
- Geometry (Math 10): Mr. Zonfrillo
- Personal Fitness and Lifetime Sports: Mr. Shahan
- German 2: Mr. Wegner
- Java Programming I: This course is an on-line course. He has an instructor on-line, Mr. Youth, that he has to check in with and send completed assignments to.