First Day of Preschool

I know they are still a little young, but the kids had their first day of preschool today!

It's actually toddler preschool at Snohomish Co-op Preschool and it only meets once a week on Fridays for an hour and a half. I thought it'd be a good opportunity for them to get out of the house, socialize with other kids, and experience some new activities.

To document the occasion, we had a little photo shoot before we left...

My parents always used to take a picture of my sister and me holding a sign on our first day of school, so I wanted to do the same with my kids...

Apparently we still aren't ready for that.

Maybe next year...

I actually got them ready, out the door, took their pictures and we still had time to spare, so I let them run around like crazy turkeys for a few minutes before I loaded them into the car.

 They picked flowers,

they ran through the grass,

they sucked on the hose,

and then they stood around, as if to say,  

CAN WE GO YET!?

Although they were a little tentative when we first arrived, they quickly warmed up and ended up having a great time at preschool.

There were lots of centers set up with just about everything a toddler would ever want to do:

play dough, painting, sensory table filled with bird seed, train table, water table, slides, balls, dress-up, kitchen, market, musical instruments, books, and so on.

It was basically a free-for-all where they kids could decide what they wanted to do and when they wanted to do it.

Kate and Chase immediately went for the sensory table filled with bird seed and shovels and proceeded to dump bird seed all over the floor.

The teacher reassured me that it happens all the time and not to worry about it as I was trying to scoop it all up off the floor.

Reece was thrilled to find tons of trucks, cars, and trains and spent the majority of his time playing with those.

The teacher was impressed when he pointed out the parts of the car for her: wheel, door, lights.

I was a little leery of the play dough center since my kids had never experienced play dough before. 

I was afraid they would eat it and it would end up all over the place, 

but after telling them one time not to eat it, they actually listened to me!

The painting center was another story though.

Total disastrous mess.

Paint on their clothes, on their faces, on the floor, and all over their hands.

I don't think my kids are ready for free reign of a painting station yet.

Then came snack.

We were the last ones to the table since I had to get all three kids' hands washed. 

Therefore, there weren't three seats next to each other and they ended up having to sit far apart, which was a mess for me as I was trying to get them to stay in their seats, 

not steal food off of other kids plates, 

give them more when they asked for it, 

and help them drink water from a real cup (we still use sippy cups at home).

They all ended up with soaking wet clothes from the water.

Then Kate went back to the bird seed, which stuck all over her wet neck and arms (I even found it in her belly button when we got home!).

At that point, my kids were such a mess that I just had to laugh.

Our first day of school was concluded with a story and singing.

Even though it was a mess, I'd say it was a successful first session of preschool.

An exhausted, paint-covered Kate back in the car with her beloved bunny.

We actually made it through the whole hour and a half with no bunnies or snugglies!