Fall Semester, In Review

Krystal, Raina, and Samantha begin school year 2010-2011.  Raina is in Senior Kindergarten with Ms. Neary and her best friend Isabel.

The Whomptons head to the STL Zoo about once a month and get there in the opening hour when everything is free.  Yes, the zoo is free all the time, but some specialty things cost.  And we're cheapskates.  The Children's Zoo (seen below), the Carousel, and the Stingray exhibit are places we hit from 8 - 9 a.m.!

Lola delights in playing peekaboo at every opportune moment.  We're seated at a restaurant here, patiently waiting for food, and Lola made her own entertainment.  She also charmed the male couple next to us, and did numerous loops around the restaurant. 

When the kids are good, we take them to the Big Kids Playground (a.k.a. Faust Park) to play and then visit the ducks.  On this occasion the ducks swarmed us ... mostly because we fed them all of Lola's cheerios snack.  The girls were exceedingly popular among the waterfowl population.

The Whomptons gathered with Mini and kids to celebrate Mini's birthday and watch the Balloon Race.  We claimed our traditional spot on the WashU Brookings lawn and had a lovely, lazy afternoon.

Raina made her own costume for Halloween.  Notice the bejeweled hearts, the multicolor ribbon, and the pipe cleaner antennae.  She was incredibly proud of herself.  She also slammed her costume into doorways, desks, etc., because my klutzy daughter couldn't handle being significantly wider than she normally was.  She ripped off the butterfly a few times (just in the process of maneuvering her around to take this picture) so I carried it from then on. 

When we made it to her classroom, I tied the wings back on and carefully situated her on the corner so she woudn't hurt herself or anyone nearby.  Here is Raina's SK class in their Halloween gear.

And here are the Whomptons on Halloween night.  Lola's initial costume wasn't good enough for Lola, but she was satisfied to be a Titans fan.  She hated the flag though and this is the only time she held it all night.

The Great Pumpkin brought Lola a baby stroller.  Once she figured out that the stroller was hers and that she could push it around, she was beyond thrilled.

Raina received her own hidey-hole and the girls delighted in together for a while.  Lola started rolling it around while she was inside and flipping the tent into walls and furniture; now the tent is situated in Raina's room.

Lola went through a significant clothes phase.  She learned how to take off her shirt and she did it.  Repeatedly. 

Then she realized she could play dress-up with other people's clothes.  She claimed Raina's zip-up sweater, pulled it on over her own pink striped jacket, zipped it up, and then paraded around saying "Raina sweater!" 

Yes, those are tighty-whities around her neck.  She has no shame.  (Neither do we.)

The Compton parents are terrible at taking pictures.  Their hearts are in the right places, but their eyes are never open.  I like that Mama Jo and Lola have the same expression.

Much better!

The Whomptons believe in a hot, hot house in the summer and a cold, cold house in the winter.  Lola is appropriately layered!

She stacked up a block tower as tall as she was.  She was beaming each time she finished the series.

I already have on a short sleeved shirt, a jacket, and a long sleeved shirt.  Maybe I need another pair of pants too?

The cuddle bug and her blanket lovey.  She has begun ripping out the individual threads of this blanket.  I don't know how much longer it can take that kind of abuse.

The Lower School performs a Winter Concert each year and it is a precious experience to witness.  Raina was never nervous about getting up on stage and performing in front of 450 people; in fact, she kept inviting more and more of my teacher friends to come!  She's in the front row, second from left.