End of School

I know that it is June and the kids have been out of school for a month, but we have been in full swing into our summer fun.  On May 31, Anthony graduated fifth grade and Spencer graduated Kindergarten.  Madeline finished up school at the end of April.  On the last day the school has a tradition of having the fifth graders walk the halls for the last time.  All the parents, grandparents, etc come and line the halls along with all the other students and teachers.  The fifth graders start at the fifth grade hall and work the way through the school and out the door to sixth grade.  While they walk the crowds cheer, students high five the fifth graders, and former teachers steal one more hug from the graduating fifth graders.  For some it is an emotional day and for others like me it is another proud moment to add to my collection.  Grant and I were surprised to see how emotional Anthony was.  The last day of school was not a joyous occasion like in years past.  Anthony is very private with his emotions and feelings, but on that day he couldn't hold back the tears.  Anthony had a really good fifth grade teacher who he adored, he was lucky to have the same teacher for third grade as well.  In the end I think Anthony is excited to move on to sixth grade and join the ranks of middle school, but change is hard and leaving a place of comfort for something unknown is difficult.  However, I know that he is prepared and he will once again find comfort (as much as your can) in middle school.

Spencer on the other hand was all excited to finally be first grader.  They talk a lot about being a first grader in Kindergarten and getting the kids all excited about all the cool things that await them.  So on May 31st Spencer was excited to finally be able to call himself a first grader.  Now as for me I was excited to finally be able to sleep in and to give the alarm clock a break.  I like how the days slow down a bit and we can fill our days with fun activities instead of homework.

A couple of days before school got out they had their end of the year parties.  Anthony's and Spencer's party was at the same time and so Grant took sometime off from work to be able to attend their parties.  The parties lasted for two hours so for the first hour Grant would attend one and then we would switch.  Spencer's party was set up like a carnival with various games and activities for the kids to do.  Anthony's party had a kerokee machine, a photo booth, cake walk, for square and tossing the football around.  For the most part the partying was very fitting for his age group, but Anthony found the activities to be a bit boring.  Since I was there we ditched his party and went over to Spencer's party and he played games with Spencer and Madeline.  So in the end we all played together at Spencer's party.

Now with school behind us it is time to have fun and enjoy the summer!