first day of pre-school

today was the day. the little dude's first day of pre-school at the john michael kohler arts center. this day has been a long time coming as it was something that the hubby and i had been dreaming about even before we had kids. i remember the day that we discovered the arts center had a pre-school. we peered through the darkened room's door, trying to get a glimpse of the magical room inside filled with easels, floor to ceiling mirrors, paints, books, play areas and so much more! even though the lights were off and it was locked up, we knew right then and there that when we were finally blessed with children, they would go to this preschool no matter what the cost. (i recently found out that the only other art museum in the country to house a pre-school is the smithsonian!) while the fees to attend the pre-school are much higher than other pre-schools in the area, education for us is a huge priority. getting a superior education that revolves around art.....well, it couldn't be a more perfect fit for us. we got him on the wait-list soon after he was born. (yeah, almost 4 years ago! it fills up fast!)

to see those dreams become a reality was such a joy for us today. the hubby took off of work and accompanied us as we all walked up to the glorious front entrance. above you'll see the little dude sitting in front of his favorite bird bath. (yeah, that thing coming out of his head! we have to look inside every time we're there to see if there's water in it or not)


here you can see the beautiful glass entrance on the front of the building. i'm not sure who designed it, but it takes my breath away every time i see that building. i know i talk about the arts center a lot on my blog, (and how we were married here) but for us it's one of the huge benefits of the very small town we live in. we don't have a lot of fancy stores or restaurants, but we have the arts center and we take full advantage! for a small town, we get some amazing exhibits and entertainment.


ok, back to pre-school. on our way up to the door, one of the jmkac employees was walking up and offered to take our family picture. (how sweet) so now we have a lovely photo to remember this special day


the little dude loves to open the huge doors by himself by hitting the handicap accessible buttons. it was hard not to notice how small he looked next to those gigantic doors! (insert weepy mom sound here)


and finally, outside the door to his classroom giving us the thumbs-up. since he's VERY familiar with the jmkac, he had no problem saying good-bye. he had an absolute blast and cannot wait to go back on friday. (sometime i'll have to take photos of the insides of the classrooms)

here's some more information on what the classes focus on at the arts center.