Back to school

Sylvia went back to school this week. Sunday we drove from Salt Lake to Las Vegas, where we'd intended to hang out for the afternoon with a friend of mine from grad school. Unfortunately, traveling with kids somehow always adds four hours to any trip, so our 10 am start time translated into an 8 pm arrival time for what should have been a *maybe* 7 hour trip. I can't really blame the kids though--two of our hour long stops were for me to visit and say goodbye to people I hadn't made enough time for earlier in my trip.

Monday was better. We left Las Vegas at about 9 and got into San Diego about 2:30, and we had an hour break for lunch along the way. The kids were both asleep when I got home, but neither napper made it to bed. I was quite disappointed. After two days of driving, and not nearly enough sleep in Utah I really wanted some sleep myself. Fortunately for me, Derrick was home waiting for me. Or maybe just for the car, which he hadn't seen for three weeks and, as soon as was polite, he took off with for an hour or so.

Derrick did make dinner that night, so I did get some rest after he returned. The kids were happy to see him, and pretty much left me alone when he was around.

Unfortunately, that night Sylvia puked. I'm guessing, since this happened the last time we took two days to drive somewhere, that two days worth of fast-food and gas station food just isn't good for my little girl's tummy. I'd hoped the bag of carrots we munched on between Las Vegas and San Diego would provide enough roughage to balance out some of the crappy food I foisted off on my kids. Next time I'll have to pack PB&Js or something I suppose.

Since I couldn't send Sylvia to school, we all went to the Birch Aquarium Tuesday morning. I love the aquarium, and I love it even more in September when everyone else is back in school. Sylvia made a friend--another little girl, just about her age who was there with her nanny. Sylvia is such a different kid when she's around other little girls. Most of the time I see her around the family, and when she's with us she's stubborn and has a definite mischevous streak. Around little boys she's almost as rough and tumble as they are, and her puckishness is certainly visible then, too. With other little girls she turns into this sweet, sugar and spice little princess who is hardly recognizable. It's amazing so many people inhabit the body of my little girl.

Wednesday morning Sylvia asked if she could go to school "Today, and the next day, and the next day, and the next..." I didn't keep track of how many next days she asked about, but it was certainly enough to get her well into next month. For the record, all summer long Sylvia's been excited to go to her new class and be in the big kid's class with Ms. A. Thursday she was excited to go again, and seemed to have fun when I picked her up. This morning, though, we were back to the much more stereotypical, "do I have to go?" when I started getting her ready for school.

I guess the honeymoon is over with Ms. A.