6 Days and 5 Nights

On Tuesday, August 28th, Tim and I will be heading off for 6 days and 5 nights in...drum roll please...

Can you believe it?  Because I still can't.  Hawaii.  I'll tell ya how it came about.  Around a month and a half ago, Tim and I got the great idea to go to Hawaii...alone...all by our "lonesomes".  We priced some stuff and realized that it was doable.  

For YEARS, we've been talking about going to Hawaii.  We actually wanted to get married there in a quaint little ceremony on the beach, but that didn't happen.  And since then, that is all Tim can talk about.  Especially since he lived there for a year and a half or so.  I call him my gypsy woman man, because the guy has lived everywhere.  He used to just pick up and move, all for good reasons of course, but the man has lived everywhere.  He always says how he would move back to Hawaii in a heartbeat if I was down with it.  

Well, I'm not sure about moving there, but visiting the place, I'm definitely down with.  And, this will be my first time.  And, this is like the honeymoon we never got.  We have also discussed possibly having another baby, and if that happens, which if it does, it will happen sooner rather than later, we would not be able to do a trip like this for at least another 4 years.  So, I mean, we just had to do it, we had to be selfish and just do it!  I'm so excited to spend such a wonderful vacation with my best friend.  I'm sure we will have the time of our lives!

Of course there are a lot of things to get done before we leave...

But I have a lot crossed off our list.  I'm getting super nervous about leaving the kids for so long, but we can't look back now, we decided to fly Joy down to watch the kids for us, and she flies in tomorrow morning.  We can't wait to see her.

Especially the girls.  Riley knows that Nana will be with me to pick her up from school tomorrow and I think she had trouble falling asleep.  The kids have known that we were leaving for a couple of days as soon as we booked the trip.  Riley says that she is going to miss us, and Madi says that she's not.  I'm kind of thinking that those roles might be reversed.

Riley is so sweet, they went to the library for the first time a couple of days ago and Riley thought about Mommy and Daddy when she picked out her book to borrow.

She said, "Mommy, I borrowed a book for you and Daddy to take to Hawaii with you when you go.  It's a book on Hawaii, and I think you are going to love it."

How cute is that?  I know it's a book on palm trees, but she was pretty darn close!  I'm gonna miss my girls!! But I know they will have a blast with Nana, and Grandma too.  Grandma will be around a lot to help out Nana, or maybe just to check in on her to make sure that the girls have not tied her up and put her in a closet or something ;)

We just have a few more things to do before we head off.  Like neatly packing our suitcase.  I've been throwing in clothes and bathing suits that we have been buying for our trip very unorganized like in our suitcase for a month now.

Just got to get that baby packed up nice and we will be ready to go.  I can't wait!  And I just have to say how thankful we are that God has put Tim in a position that actually allows us to do this.  Paid vacation is a wonderful gift.  And we are truly blessed!  

I'm bringing my laptop, so I'm hoping to post a few times while we are there, in our "downtime"...Ha!  We'll see about that!

Aloha!

How Did Today Go?

So glad that you asked!

It went very well.  The night before, after I wrote my letter to Riley though, she woke up with the nervous shakes.  I've never seen her like that before.  I think it was around 9:00 when she woke up and she told me crying that she was nervous for tomorrow.  Poor baby.  I felt so bad for her.  I was not able to get her to calm down just by talking to her, so I decided we should have a late night nail polish session.  I reminded her what a wonderful person she was, how everyone loves her, and how cute her outfit was going to be for tomorrow.  She thought that was pretty cool, and I had her smiling in no time.  It was kind of nice to know that she does still need me :)

This morning, we woke up, and were ready to go by 7:15.  Her entourage had arrived and after a few pictures by the house, we were ready to walk to school.  I'm so excited that we live close enough to walk to school, that is, if I'm not running crazy late (like I used to when she was in preschool...hey, I never said I was perfect) which at that point, I'll pack her up in the car and drive down there.  Did you want to see her entourage?

She had quite a turn out for her first day.  Which I think she was super excited about.  She was a completely different kid from the kid she was last night.  Like my Aunt said on Facebook, "All smiles!"

How cute is she? 

She was so excited to get there, that she asked me if she could run.  And I LOVE the fact that the backpack is almost as big as she is.   

I had a few almost breakdowns on the way to the school, but I kept my tears in.  I did good folks.  I did good.  Much better than I thought I would.  You know, the morning of, it's eat breakfast, get dressed, brush your teeth, let's get your hair done, put your shoes on, that I didn't have a moment to think about it.  Until the walk.

And thank you so much to my Mom who grabbed my camera from me and took a lot of great photos.  She also took a few of Riley by the sign in front of her school, but for privacy, I've chosen not to post that.

This picture she took of Riley on our walk to the school.  I might just have to frame this one.

And after that, I asked my Mom to take a family picture before I lost it.  I'm telling you, I was on the verge, and blinked back many a tear.

And in case you are wondering, that face on Madi is the same face that is in every picture of our family that my Mom took.  So yes, that is the best one. :)

Standing in line at the gate...I adore this picture...

The first day of school, the parents were allowed to stay for about 30 minutes while we did a few activities with Riley.  I took a picture looking into her classroom.

It was really nice to be there for a little bit with Riley.  She had met one little girl at meet the teacher day that we reintroduced her to.  She has the same name as Riley's cousin, so we thought that might be easy for her to remember.  Riley was so nervous about meeting friends.  And after she sat for a while with Jocelynn, she came up to me and said that she was ready to meet more friends.

So she did!  I was so proud of her, she did so well.  And, we had homework assigned that is really not due for another week, but Riley was so excited to get it done, that we did.

She couldn't wait to show it to her teacher, and her teacher thought it was so special, that she put it up on the wall so that the other kids had an example of what to do with their animals...here is her yellow duck...

I'm just so proud of her.  Here she is right before we said good bye...

When I picked her up from school, I was soooo anxious to hear how it went and was surprised with what she chose to tell me...

1.  "I didn't feel like meeting any new friends after you left Mommy."

2.  "One of the boys peed their pants because he waited too long."  (Poor little guy!!  I felt so bad for him!)

3.  "I didn't show anyone but my teacher my lunch box because it is so pretty and I thought someone would snatch it up and steal it."  (Ummm okay, no idea where that came from)

4.  She ate snack with the girls and saw her neighbor friend.

5.  She was mad because they didn't play on the playground.

6.  And...last but not least, "Mommy stop asking me questions, I forget everything that happened at school when I walk out the door."  (we are gonna have to work on that)

Overall, the day couldn't have gone better.  It was nice to meet other Mom's with tears in their eyes, and others that had been around the block enough times to know that it gets easier.

Awe.  Now I can sleep.  Thank you all for your support, it has meant the world to me!

Dear Riley,

My sweet, sweet girl.  You are heading off for your first day of Kindergarten tomorrow.  I can't even tell you how this makes me feel.  I'm so excited for you, I know that you will do great.  You have been asking me when the first day of school will be since you graduated Preschool, and we counted down the days together.

We have your backpack all packed up with your first homework assignment, your snack is chilling in the fridge, and your very first day of school outfit is all picked out and hanging on your door knob ready for you to put it on.  You are ready.

I, am not.  I broke down last night with tears in my eyes.  You are no longer my baby, or my toddler.  At night when I go into your room just to look at you, I still expect to see a baby.  But you're not anymore.  You are officially a big girl.  A big kid.  I have wanted to bottle you up and keep you this age forever, but I can't.  Right now, you hug me, and kiss me, and tell me you love me.  When you are supposed to be in bed at night, you sneak out a couple of times, just to give me a hug and a kiss.  I love that.  And I'm not saying that is going to change, but everything now is going to be different.

I no longer get to snuggle with you in the mornings when you wake up and sneak into my bed with your jammies on and sleepy eyes.  We won't get to eat our breakfast together, or watch cartoons snuggled up on the couch.  You have to go to school now.  School.  Big girl school.  I don't know where the time has gone and hope that I have taken every minute to tell you how much I love you and how proud of you I am.  It's hard to let go, and I know I have to.  Please remember that you will always be my precious little Riley.  The one with the big heart and kind spirit.  The one who just can't understand why anyone would ever be mean to you.  The girl who wants everyone to be her friend.

My first born baby, you have changed me since the moment you took your first breaths, and I thank God for giving you to me.  You are my angel.  I wish you luck on your first day of school and hope you make lots of new friends.  I hope you love your new teacher and that she loves you.  I hope that you will always tell me about your day, and come to me with your fears.  I will always be here for you and will walk by your side forever.

I know one day you will look back on this letter and say, oh gosh Mom, you are such a sap.  It was just Kindergarten.  But it's not just Kindergarten for me.  I'm losing my little baby, and gaining such a big girl.  I hope you know that it's bittersweet for me and I just want the best for you.  I'm excited to watch you grow but I'm not ready to say goodbye to my baby.

I love you to the moon and back Riley Rose Rush.  Or in your words, I love you this much...

Knock um dead tomorrow sweetness, and I promise I'll keep my tears to a minimum, if I can.  You are ready, and I will be too.  Hugs and kisses sweet, sweet girl.  I love you.

Love always,

Mommy