Bandon & Back to School!

For Labor Day weekend we HAD to have one last summer hurrah so we traveled to Bandon for a wonderful weekend.  Friday also happened to be Ella's "official" birthday so we first drove to Newport and went to the Oregon Coast Aquarium for her special day.  We had a lot of fun checking out the sea lions, otters, and sharks.  Then we hit the road and continued down 101 to Bandon....it was a gorgeous drive! The weather at the beach was great for the Oregon Coast....70's, slight wind.  We had fun looking at tide pools, lots of starfish, and finding cool rocks.

Then back to reality...school started today.  Ella was beyond excited for her first day of kindergarten...up around 6 AM!!!!  I wanted to take her today but she really wanted to ride the bus so when we were running late she informed me that this never would have happened if she had ridden the bus this morning.  Sheesh!  We got to school and I dropped her off with no tears...from me, I was never worried about her!  I must say I was pretty impressed with myself since the night before when we were reading Twas the Night Before Kindergarten  I totally teared up and this morning she told Daddy not to cry or worry, she'd be fine and couldn't wait to start school (which of course made him cry!!)  She practically pushed me out the door after we got there, but I did manage to get a few photos before that.  :)  I love how independent she is, but come on, mommy needed a little "moment" this morning! ;-)  Addilyn loved waiting for her at the bus stop and they were both excited to see each other! :)

 Our grown-up 6 year old!