walking home from school

One of the best parts of living in this home is that we're only a few houses down from the front door of the school.  From our front driveway, I can see the kids leave the school's front doors and hear the inspirational song that plays them out at the end of the day.  By the time Dottie and I get to the corner, the kids are crossing the street to meet us.  

Bending forward under the weight of his own backpack, lunch sack and coat, our little gentleman carries his baby sister's backpack home every day. Our little pre-teen struggles with keeping everything in her arms, after adding her sister's coat and lunch sack to her own bundles.  The baby runs forward, laughing and taunting her older siblings that she's going to beat them to me. She seems to not understand why it's her fault they can't win that race. 

Sometimes, as in this photo, there are blunders or mishaps. On an icy day, Buddy slipped under the weight of his packages and planted himself on the ice.  He laughed loudly and started kicking his legs, like a fish out of water.  The girls ran forward and tried to copy his wipe-out.  

It's a lovely tradition that Don and I always wanted for ourselves, but we both lived too far away from our schools to do it.  We're glad that our children will have these memories.

These are visuals that I hope to be able to see and sounds that I hope to remember, when they're all grown up.