Well guys. It's finally here. Rory's first day of school! Like official school. Kindergarten. Riding the bus to get there type school!

 Shirt/Backpack/Thermos/Jeans
 
And I am rejoicing! I had a meltdown on Sunday I'll admit it about her starting school, mostly because I'm not sure what our new normal is going to look like and I'm not the best with change hahaha But just like I thought, SHE LOVES IT SO MUCH!  Jade wanted her picture taken too since she starts preschool in about a week or so! I can't believe I'm going to have kid free time DURING THE DAY!

But back to the reason for the post haha The first day of school was a torrential downpour. Need me to say it again? TORRENTIAL DOWNPOUR! In Arizona?!

I mean it IS monsoon season but still it was coming down in buckets and soooooo so heavy!

So I took her to school the first day (plus the bus had gotten messed up somehow in the mix of school starting so I needed to talk to the office any ways) but I loved that I got to walk her to her classroom by ourselves (my mom came out and sat with Jade in the car) and I watched her walk right in to the classroom like she owned the joint. Just like preschool, this girl was READY to learn. She waved at me very emphatically and then went to work. 

And I left.

I left my baby girl. And I didn't cry. I smiled at her enthusiasm and her optimism. She was ready for this. I knew she was but still you worry as a mother if it's the right time sometimes, it was for her.

We spent the rest of the day at the movies (Summer movies at Harkins!!) and then lunch at Chik-fil-a so Jade could play without missing sister too much. We then went home for a much deserved nap and waited to go get Rory from the bus (I had gotten that all sorted while I was st the school thank goodness!)

She came home in a flurry of  "MOM GUESS WHAT?!"s and homework, and slightly cranky haha It was hot on the bus plus she's not acclimated to school yet. That night we had some family over for dinner to celebrate her first day and Bri from Breezy&Co designed some AMAZING party decorations So many in fact that I couldn't use them all but trust me, they're wonderful!

Everyone was hungry and you all know Rory won't resist a moment to be the center of attention so she LOVED everyone coming out to see her ;) Then we had her take a bath and into bed to start all over the next day hahaha

I'm exhausted from this first week! I can't wait for the weekend for us to recooperate!

This past week our family visited Andrew's uncle (Unkie) who lives in South Carolina and we had a fun time!

We flew into Charlotte and then drove to York and when we got there we had food and fireworks waiting for us! After all, it WAS the 4th of July and what kind of Americans would we be if we didn't have fireworks?! The girls loved them (thanks to some handy dandy ear protection) and we all slept very very soundly that night.

Daddy was feeling pretty adventurous while on this vacation because he decided to try to play Monopoly with the girls (insert shocked face emoji). They liked the idea for about 15 solid minutes then they got pretty bored hahaha but they finished it more or less!

Andrew also decided to make empanadas and milanesa for dinner on our last night for Unkie and the family. Guys he made his own dough! From scratch! He hasn't done that since being IN Argentina, and he won parent of the year by letting the girls roll their own dough. Guess who's the favorite parent now hahahaha

We had so much fun but we were very happy to get home.

Even though what we came home to was this (reposting my FB status here hahaha):

"Return home day checklist: forget water bottle in the van. Check. 
Giant poop blowout AFTER checking bags (with the flight boarding soon). Check. 
Giant branch of the tree breaking off in the storm overnight and blocking the driveway. 
Check (friends with chainsaw moved it out of the way for us). 
Have A/C go out 2-3 hours before we get home and getting up to 90 
in the house before getting someone over to repair $450 later? 
Check. Sleep in our own bed after all this? Check and check."

Needless to say, we're chilling at home now and we're ready for the normal to kick back in hahaha