First Week of School (Again)

After a very long hiatus from school (over 6 months), Ben is finally starting back to preschool this week! The school situation here has been incredibly frustrating to me because there is very little offered for preschoolers and virtually nothing besides daycare for under-3's. There are some good schools and people put their kids on the waiting lists as soon as they're born so there isn't much chance of a newly relocated family to get in to any of those places. I tried several montessori places and anything that looked like it may offer fun and education for Ben and finally, after checking into about 30 places, I found this school that had space available since it was still under construction. Thank goodness it was completed on time, but their license has been delayed and Ben didn't start today as planned. He'll go a half-day on Wednesday (I hope) and then start full days on Mondays and Wednesdays next week. I can't wait for him to get some socialization with kids his age again and have some fun without me around...two things he's been severely lacking since we moved here and it shows.

The facilities are very nice and look terrific since they're all brand new! We went for an orientation and meet-the-teacher day last week.

It's officially a 4-year kindy class (as in the kids will all turn 4 over the year) and Ben is in the Emu group. It will follow the local school calendar so he'll attend 4 terms and then hopefully start full-time kindy at the local primary school next year. It's optional for kids as well so he isn't guaranteed a spot.

Cute little classroom with some great new toys. I would have loved to be the one shopping with all the money for new stuff!

And what did Ben do the entire time? Play in the car, of course. At least he's excited to go back to the "car school". I hope he realizes his time there will encompass more than pretend driving.

Back home we never seem to run short of entertainment ourselves and somehow it always entails a lengthy clean-up. I didn't bother with much paper this time and let them paint all over the windows. The crayola paint is easy to wash off....the finger paints, not so much. Live and learn. I have learned to strip them down first thing since washable doesn't apply to all fabrics.

Good thing it all washes straight off skin, though!

There was a trail of tiny handprints all the way around the house.

And oddly enough on little backs, too. (see above picture if you have any doubt as to where that come from)

Luckily they have just as much fun at the faucet rinsing off. We spent a fun afternoon a couple of days later washing the windows and they loved it, too.

For cleaner fun, we've enjoyed the latest toy from the library - a huge kitchen. They've been cooking up a storm.

This past weekend was absolutely gorgeous weather-wise (highs in the 80's, lows in the 60's) but actually a little chilly for the beach. Instead we hit the lotterywest playground for some afternoon fun.

All the little boys loved this airplane because it made some kind of noise and there were kids all over it the entire time.

Today we got a box of treats and books from Grandma Kirkham and Alex determinedly worked at getting every last Pez out of his dispenser. It kept him quiet and completely occupied for at least 10 minutes so I'm looking forward to giving him more tomorrow!

Ben's were gone before I could even get the package completely opened...no surprise there! He was proud of his pink tongue, though. Thanks, Grandma, for the treats!!

And then back to the dirty fun again....looks like we'll have to paint these windows and wash them again.

I thought this was a picture worth sharing. On Australia Day last week I wandered down to the beach with the boys for a play and some lunch. I have never seen so many people there before! And such a diverse crowd...a few people there made me wonder if I was seeing a People of Wal-Mart image. Like the one old lady who didn't bother with a swimsuit but didn't need a shirt over her stained bra. Eww. The cool part was that Havianas was selling inflatable flip flops and they made a chain of over 1,300 people in the water. I don't think it's exactly a Guinness record or anything but it looked pretty neat that day.

Update on the toddler bed: Alex has done great! We've only had one terrible naptime where he cried and cried and kept coming to the door, but otherwise he's going to sleep just as well as usual. And the nice thing now is that when he wakes up he goes to his bookshelves for entertainment and then starts banging at the door when he's ready for some company. No more screaming for a rescue from the crib! But now I can't believe that we're really done with cribs in this house. He's growing up so fast.