Summer (almost) over

The kids finished one of their summer bridge workbooks and earned a couple of "gold medals" for their efforts. I specifically chose the ThinkStretch series because of that medal:

I got lucky this summer that they were excited to do the workbooks at all. Alice got exposed to a few new language and math concepts while Robert got a lot of fine motor writing/drawing/tracing practice. Are they ready for real school to begin? Yes and no. Alice wants to get back to friends and activities, but worries herself sick about all the unknowns. Literally. Robert knows exactly what he's getting back into, so he's not nervous, per se, but I wouldn't say he's looking forward to going back to school. He will surely miss having Alice at home.

I'm not sure what I'll be doing with James while the others are away...one kid can be harder than 2 or 3 sometimes. We'll all have some adjusting to do.

One week of summer left. We'll hit the pool one more time, finish gathering school supplies, and maybe take a bike ride to the school to see who Alice's new teacher will be.

We haven't established any "First Day of School" traditions yet. Are there any you strongly recommend?