Back to school.
School is back in swing here. Laurel started fifth grade at our neighborhood elementary school on Monday and has made a few friends already. Preschool started for my nephew today too, and it was quite nice to be able to walk in nice weather, see Laurel across the bus loop to the main building and hang out on the preschool playground with my niece while my nephew got signed in for the day.
We also got back to ensuring that cars are actually going to stop at the crosswalk when the light is red before stepping into the crosswalk. This morning we watched a middle-aged woman in an SUV drive through the red light well above the posted speed limit while we were waiting to cross and head into our neighborhood. (I don't know where she was going in such a hurry, but I hope she made it there safely.) Later that morning, drivers stopped at the crosswalk in both directions without us pushing the signal button. We appreciated that.
Laurel might be doing Girl Scouts this year as a Juliette; I'll be jumping back into Cub Scouting with Join Scouting night next week helping with rocketry and whatever make-and-take I come up with between now and then. She brought home the first-year band and orchestra information today and wants to play violin, so we'll see what we can swing there -- based on a neck-to-mid-palm measure, we're looking at a 1/2 or 3/4 size violin, which we may be able to borrow from local friends instead of coming up with $100 for school year rental.