Lions and Tigers and Bears...

I'm very excited. Tomorrow I get the privilege of accompanying my son and his class on his very first field trip!
I am now an officially certified Miami Dade County Public School Chaperone... not sure what that means but I can legally go to the zoo and make sure my son doesn't jump into any of the animal containments.
Lucas is excited too! Not because he's going to the zoo... he's been there before and to him this place is old news. He's excited because for the first time ever, he gets to ride on a school bus. Kids get excited about the weirdest things.
I cross these tiny little milestones, to which some may seem so unimportant, and look back on the short time Luc has been ruling my life and I can't help but feel so OLD! I gotta admit that sometimes I drive around time, both kids strapped into the back seat... and I've got the radio blasting... I look back in the rearview mirror and think OH MY GOD THERE'S KIDS BACK THERE! It's hard to still feel like a kid at heart and think of yourself as the kid still driving the red acura integra and realize you're now the adult that use to drive you around.
I try really hard to be really involved in everything the boys do. I think my parents could have probably done a better job of being a part of my activites, but I don't want my kids to ever say that about me.
I may be a little too clingy... stay too long after the bell rings to make sure Lucas is writing his first and last name correctly... but when I joke around and his school friends laugh, I see the look of pride on my baby's face, and any doubts I have that he may not want me there are gone.
He's a full grown boy that son of mine! He's got the writing of his first and very long last name down packed... he writes in his journal every morning! His drawings are usually about skateboarding with his dad and brother, his mino in his fire station, and his favorite dog Rigby. He's learning to read short words, knows all about animals in Australia and Africa... and is mastering the use of words like awkward, obnoxious and special. He's even learning a prayer to say at Thanksgiving! He still picks flowers for me every morning on our walk to his classroom and he loves looking for worms crawling up the walls in the halls of the school. Our morning drives are full of questions, he now eats his breakfast in the car and loves to come outside on a cold day and tell me how lovely the weather is.
He is big beyond words and I adore him more than I could explain. He is the most AMAZING person I've ever met and truly the man of my dreams.
So tomorrow I will cherish another memory we will make. I can't wait to see his smiling face getting on the bus, and I hope he doesn't get lost... get eaten by an animal or break into anyone's cage. I will be the proud momma, watching over a couple of brats, hoping no one gives me a hard time. WISH ME LUCK!