touch of spring

oh, these kids, this sunshine, this lush yard!
springtime in the backyard means sweet chubby pink feet hanging out of the hammock,


backyard breakfast with this sweet little safety ranger,


and backyard drawing with a ferocious lion who can dunk basketballs and take out garden gnomes with extreme prejudice. 


there has been a serious uptick in visits to the zoo, with monkey bars with friends,


and lion riding in tights (he peed his pants, and wore a friend's relatively see-through tights without underwear as replacement, and was happy, so i tried to just roll with it).


we visited some sweet animals on campus,




and hung out with a maypole and bunches of happy neighbors.




but the biggest thing? kindergarten visitation day. this kid was so full of excitement and reluctance and nervous fear and eager exploration, and it made my heart explode to watch her process it all as we walked around. me and david? we're feeling pretty good about her readiness, the school, everything. i can't wait to see her in school.
here she is, jumping off stuff in the rain, just before visitation.


and a video, made entirely at lapham (ramona's elementary school), about their process and philosophy. it seems pretty good.


MMSD: The Kindergarten Experience from Smoking Monkey on Vimeo.