1000 gifts: fall routine

Summer was great, but right now I'm so thankful for fall and to be getting back into activities and routine.  Over the summer I found that not enough routine/activity wasn't good for the kids (or me), and neither was too much.  It was a balancing act to find that perfect spot of being just busy enough without being too busy.  Hopefully with all we've got scheduled for fall, it will be just right!  So thankful for all these opportunities!!

201. Annika's preschool - starting today!  Annika will be going to the same preschool as last year, but this year she's in the "4 year old" class (she's actually in a 3/4 year old combined class, so this is a big deal to be one of the older kids now).  She'll be going 3 afternoons a week.  Today she was very excited about the fact that on Mondays it would be a small class (Monday is an optional day, not everyone chooses to go - so far there are only 7 kids in the Monday class) and she would have just her favorite teacher there.  Pictures to come tomorrow!

202. Annika's dance class - starting at the end of September, she'll be doing a 10 week ballet class on Saturday afternoons.  Even though she always seemed a little tired and dazed in her last ballet class, she asked all summer long about when ballet would start again.  This time the class is a little earlier, so hopefully she'll be a little more upbeat when she's there! 

203. Annika's swimming lessons - starting at the beginning of October.  I didn't really want to do swimming and dance at the same time, but Annika said that she really wanted to do them both.  I figured it was a good sign that she wanted to do swimming again (she enjoys it, despite the fact that she'll be repeating her level for the 4th time), so I said okay.  She'll have swimming lessons on Tuesday afternoons, at 4:30 (hopefully with having lessons before supper there won't be as many pool closings as last time!).  We decided not to put Emmett in swimming lessons right now (there are only so many times you can sing "The Grand Ol' Duke of York"), so he'll be spending some time with Grandma while I take Annika to swimming.

204. Emmett's "Baby Rhyme Time" class - starting at the beginning of October for 8 weeks.  I wanted to do something for Emmett (poor second child gets so neglected), so I signed us up for this free (yay!) parent/baby class at the library on Friday mornings (Annika will get some Grandma time then).  

205. Y Neighbours - starting tomorrow!!  Yay, definitely looking forward to getting back into my Tuesday morning routine, even if it does mean that we have to get up a bit earlier to be there by 9:00am (the kids are usually up around 8:00am, so sometimes it can be a bit of a rush).

206. My book club - starting tonight!  Another thing that I'm really looking forward to for myself. :)  Tonight we're meeting for dessert (of course) and discussing our summer read - the "50 Shades" trilogy.  Should be a great evening!

207. A mini-vacation!!  Carey and I have booked a little getaway (4 days, 3 nights) to Toronto/Niagara Falls for the end of September.  Definitely looking forward to a few days of kid-free time with my hubby and getting to see places I've never seen before.