Goodbye and thanks, OCP!

Juniper being dropped off at OCP for the very last time

Friday was the last day of summer camp at OCP, the preschool Juniper has attended for the past three years. It's hard to believe how much she has grown (physically, emotionally, socially, and intellectually) since she started at OCP. OCP has been a huge part of our family's life, and Juniper has thrived there in every way that a preschool-aged kid can possibly thrive.

We're really grateful that she's been able to have a few years of early childhood education in this little bubble where everyone has a shared set of core values when it comes to our children. I suspect that we're all going to be amazed when public kindergarten bursts that bubble, and I'm confident that Juniper is ready for it. She sets off for kindergarten knowing that learning (especially about science) is awesome, that good friends will play superheroes with you and also read quietly in the cozy corner with you, that kids can negotiate their own issues without turning first to an adult, that fairness and equality matter, that it's important to take care of the earth, that it's ok to do your own thing, and that you can only eat the flowers once a grown-up has told you they are safe.

OCP Graduation

Juniper is officially a preschool graduate! Yesterday we attended a very sweet graduation celebration for the OCP Larks (pre-K) class.

Ms. Shannon called up each child and read out their proclamations of what they will do in school next year. "When Juniper is a kindergartener, she will have fun playing and paint her toenails."

 T-H-E  L-A-R-K-S  O-F  O-C-P! (You may need to zoom in to see it.)

Hooray! The kids were really excited to get to the part of the ceremony where they got to throw their letter boards up into the air. They had a hard time holding on to the boards long enough to show off what they spelled.

All of the Larks were asked to bring in a rock with their names, decorated however the child chose. The kids left their rocks in the OCP play garden, to represent their time at the school.

 Juniper and Claudia

 Most of the Larks...

 ...and their very enthusiastic parents.

Juniper and the very beloved Ms. Shannon. Juniper was fortunate to have Ms. Shannon as her teacher for her 2-year old class and her pre-K class.

Hazel didn't care much for the ceremony that blocked access to the bike path, but she was very excited about the celebratory ice cream cone.

Juniper was reluctant about having her photo taken; as a result, there's no photo where both Aaron and I are looking at the camera. At least one of us is cajoling Juniper in all the photos of the three of us.

Juniper's friend Thomas was even more reluctant to be in photos, but Aaron had the magic touch to convince him to join in on our family photo.



Thomas and his mother Paula are among our very favorite people at OCP. Thomas is unquestionably Juniper's best friend at OCP, and the two of them have a special and delightful relationship.




The other photo has more people looking at the camera, but Juniper's expression in this one is so terrific we can't resist the duplicate shot.

Thomas, Juniper, and Claudia have been in the same class all three of their years at OCP.

 It has been a delight to watch them over the years. Look how much they've grown since their first class picture! (And that was taken at the end of the year; I wish I could link to one of the three of them at the start of the year.)

Self portrait of Juniper as a kindergartener. (I will confess, I got a little teary-eyed when Ms. Shannon gave us this.)


 
We couldn't imagine a better preschool experience for Juniper. Our heartfelt thanks to Ms. Shannon, Ms. Wendy, Ms. Betty, and all the amazing OCP families that work so hard to make the school the special place it is.

Birthday adventures

Juniper had an active and fun-filled birthday. After more than a week of being home sick, she was finally able to go back to school. She was delighted to be able to celebrate her birthday with the other Larks. Her good friend Thomas was the snack distributor for the day, so he had the important job of passing out the birthday banana muffins.



Big wish, birthday girl!

 

 After school, we took Thomas and Juniper to Legoland. When we told them the surprise plan at the very last minute, I think they may have been the two happiest kids in all of metro-Atlanta. They both had fun with blocks and building, but their tastes in adventure were somewhat different. Juniper loved this ride, which Thomas wouldn't go on. And Thomas loved the 4-D movie that Juniper refused to watch ("too scary!").


 
 The mall escalators, however, were a unanimous hit!

Our family has an arbitrarily but firmly established rule that you aren't allowed to eat batter or dough with raw egg until you're five. Juniper has been hearing this for about the past three and a half years. Ever since she started helping in the kitchen, Juniper has been looking forward to five as a major milestone birthday.

The obvious choices were either brownie batter or chocolate chip cookie dough. Since Juniper is not a chocoholic, she opted for the cookie dough. This five-year-old treat lived up to the years of anticipation. (She also enjoyed the cookies themselves.)



We ended the day with dinner at Juniper's favorite restaurant, the Superhero Pizza Restaurant. (Not its actual name, but an accurate reflection of the decor.) Juniper enjoyed the superheroes, enjoyed the pizza, and enjoyed the opportunity to get lost in one of her birthday gifts.

School Photos

Another year of great school photos for Juniper! (And another year of having her dad as the school photographer.)

In order to accommodate children with different class schedules, Aaron was in Juniper's class two days of the week. I like the fact that as a result, we've got some photos of Juniper dressed up for school pictures and some looking a like she does every other day.

It's fun to see how much she has grown from her Chickadee class to her Owls class to this year's Larks class.

Artist at Work

 

Juniper's last first day of preschool

 

I'll spare you my reflections on the passage of time and simply say that I am totally, completely, madly in love with my wonderful big girl.


Juniper's first day as a Chickadee (2 year-old preschool)

Juniper's first day as an Owl (3 year-old preschool)

And now she is a Lark (Pre-K)! We're looking forward to a great year with lots of good friends in her class and a fantastic teacher whom we adore.

Happy Birthday, Thomas

Juniper's good friend Thomas just turned 4!

We celebrated his birthday at the Oakhurst Community Garden. Hazel was delighted with the chickens. Juniper was more excited about the dirt and worms (of the oreo and gummy variety). When I saw a big pile of dirt and worms on her plate, I asked her whether she'd had any real food first, or just gone straight to dessert. She assured me that she'd started with real food: "Chips. And watermelon."

  

Trying to convince Thomas to move away from the serving table, someone asked him whether he wanted to move to the picnic table with all his friends. Thomas protectively put his arm around Juniper's shoulders and proclaimed, "I am with my friend." They're a delightful pair. Aaron's theory is that they get along so well because both of them have stereotypically boyish interests (superheroes, police, stopping bad guys) but play like girls (sustained imaginative narration, not very rough and tumble). Whatever the reason for their special spark, we're glad to have Thomas in our lives.

Hazel did get to ride in the wagon with the big kids. At one point there were 6 kids crammed into the wagon. They all grumbled about not having enough space, but not a one of them would get out and wait for the next turn to ride.

All in all, it was a very fun day at the gardens!


Part 2: I just realized that when I did this post last night, I missed a couple of photos Aaron had given me.



We knew the Lego steam roller was a big hit when Thomas' parents told him he could open it at home and he immediately replied, "let's go home!" 



True friendship = sharing your special birthday cake.

Little Racer

Juniper's preschool holds an annual 5k fundraiser race, Beat the Street For Little Feet. This year, Juniper was a proud participant in the "tot trot," which involves a herd of young children running (or meandering) across a patch of field that's maybe 15 yards long. Maybe.

 The tot trot does not involve a fancy finish line, but Juniper was happy to pose here while the one mile fun run was in progress. Several of her friends very impressively ran the full mile.

Though she didn't run an official mile, she played hard and ran all over the park with her friends. By the end of a very fun morning, Juniper was pooped and pathetic about having to walk up this hill to leave the park.

Holi

Last month, Juniper's preschool celebrated Holi, the Hindu Festival of Colors. Colorful mess + preschoolers = a big crowd of happy kids.

School pictures/Happy Birthday, Juniper!

Our big girl is 4! Birthday photos to come soon, but in the meantime, here are some of Juniper's recent school photos. (The complete set is available on Aaron's website.) Once again her dad was the school photographer; all reports indicate that Juniper and her friends had a great time on picture day.



She's grown quite a lot since last year's pictures (and gotten much better at jumping).

Storytime

On the playground after preschool. Claudia, the reader, has been in Juniper's class since they both started preschool last year, and she's been a true book lover the whole time.

Park time

A few weeks ago, Juniper's friend Jack came over to play. We went to the park, where all three kids had a great time. Juniper and Jack stayed hidden under their hoods, but Hazel the little furnace had no need of hers.



Hazel tried out the see-saw for the first time...



...and had her first self-initiated, solo ride down the slide. (Usually, she only goes down the slide when we plop her down at the top of it.)

First day of school

Bag packed and ready to go. It's hard to believe how much she has grown since last year.



While Aaron took photos, Juniper bounced and chanted, "I'M SO EXCITED ABOUT GOING TO SCHOOL!! I'M SO EXCITED ABOUT GOING TO SCHOOL!"



Juniper and her friend Claudia (who was in her class last year) decorate name labels to go on their cubbies.



More friends from last year. The very beloved Ms. Paula reads a book to Juniper and her son, Thomas.



"And look! They have a fire station!!"