Seventh grade here she comes . . .

Hurrah, hurrah, our first day of school is finally here! After months of anticipation, numerous dreams about getting lost and not being able to open her locker, and overall dread mixed with excitement, the big day finally arrived. I officially have a junior high student. Doesn't she look so beautiful and grown-up?!

Our school district has the 7th graders go a day earlier than the rest of the students. This is a nice way to acclimate the "newbies" and help them work out the kinks.

Alyssa headed down to the bus stop with her good friends Makayla and Sadie. They have been going to school together since the 1st grade and I am thankful for such wonderful girls and the positive influence they are for Alyssa. They were all smiles for the pictures even though they "really did not want to take any, how embarrassing you know".

I was able to sneak in a few pictures at the bus stop even though that was forbidden.

Alyssa survived the day. She said it was long and exhausting. They attended all 8 classes with 850 other 7th graders. (I only had 900 kids in my whole high school including 9th grade, so I can't even fathom that).

She had 8 fire drills, 4 assemblies, waited 30 minutes in the lunch line only to have 10 minutes to eat, and didn't have a chance to go to the bathroom all day. In the end, she learned very little about her actual classes.

In spite of the craziness, Alyssa really enjoyed herself and is actually looking forward to returning to school. I am sure there will be many more exciting days to come.