Back to School!

Where did the summer go?  Lost in endless days of creek splashing, park playing, pool games, summer camps, and bike rides, this summer flew by.  And then the busses were rolling up to the stop and the kids were waving good-bye, heading off to start another year of learning and growing.

Funny Guy was the most excited, insisting on donning his heavily laden first-day-of-school-supply-filled backpack almost a full hour before time to head out the door!  Darling Daughter and Young Man were a bit more subdued, feelings bittersweet as we say goodbye to the freedoms of summer, hello to friends and schedules and learning, and move just a little bit closer to our new adventures in Thailand. Young Man was a bit frustrated at the prospects of starting anew, only to uproot again in a few months.  Still, he came home smiling, so busy talking with his new friends that he walked past before he saw me waiting (still not too old to break away from them to give me a hello hug!).  Darling Daughter was happy to head back to school where she is already busy directing a collaborative play during recess with a few of her best friends (they've been working on the script all summer, suggesting edits and writing together on Google Docs. Funny Guy sprinted to be the first on the bus and already had playdates lined up with two new friends when he came home, "But first grade still isn't hard enough," he informed me as he gave me a quick hug.

And back to school wasn't just for the kids this year.  I am heading back to FSI for the next 6 weeks.  Today I started the Consular course that all new Foreign Service Officers take before heading to post to work as consular officers (My Man will take the course after he passes his Thai test next month).  It will make for a busy two months, but I am excited to have the opportunity, which will open up many opportunities to work at post if I decide I want to later on.