My oldest is about to start kindergarten.

Just writing that sentence causes me to feel anxiety.  Unfortunately, they don’t offer half-day kindergarten in Florida so she’s stuck, er, I mean, gets to go for 7 hours a day.  Doesn’t that seem a little excessive for a five year old?  I think so.

Thankfully, she’s excited and eager to start.  I’m sure she’ll do great! I, on the other hand, may be a little emotionally fragile for the next few weeks.  Such is life.  Change is the one constant.

My friend Tiffany from Fishy Face Photography also has a child starting kindergarten this fall.  She offered to let Sadie and me join her on their starting kindergarten photo shoot at Heritage Village in Largo, Florida.  For those not familiar with Heritage Village it’s a neat collection of historic structures from the area that they’ve preserved and relocated to some county land in Largo.  They have two school houses, a barn, church, sponge warehouse, railroad depot, and homes from the early 1900s.  The school we choose for the photo shoot was one of the first schools built for black children in Pinellas County.  It was built in 1915 and was originally located in Tarpon Springs.  It was truly adorable!  I felt like we had stepped onto the set of Little House on the Prairie.

Sadie was in a fun, playful mood.  My trick to getting these pictures was telling her NOT to smile.  Every time I said, “Hey!  I said NO smiling!” she would burst out in laughter.  She’s pretty silly and loves to be teased so that type of technique usually works well with her.

I love when her cute personality shines through in photos!