End of Year Wrap-up

The end of the school year is the best. Full of field trips, sports days, and very little school work. And luckily, I got to join my kids for most of it.

These little bandits had a field trip to Lancaster County Park. We visited the Garden of 5 Senses, collected insects, played games, and had a picnic.

Against all odds, Addison and Marie ended up in the same class this year. It will probably never happen again, so they enjoyed every minute of it. Unfortunately, Mia ended up in morning kindergarten, so they never got to see her. But they hit the jackpot that day and ran into her on the field trip!

They had a pretty fun little class this year, we'll miss these guys.

Our school district is unique in that we have district mascot, not school mascots. We're the Lampeter-Strasburg Pioneers. And every year, the 5th graders get to have "Pioneer Day." Every 5th grader comes dressed as a pioneer (only one of 250 didn't this year) and participates in parlor games, panning for gold, orienteering, and several other stations. I was in charge of moccasin-making and they were pretty stellar, if you ask me! I don't know how much the kids love it, but it's better than math and reading, I guess. It's a pretty fun tradition, and I never would've thought I'd see something like this outside the state of Utah.

The 5th graders also go to Philly for a day. When it was Kyle's turn to go, it was a rainy, awful day. I wasn't able to go on this one, but didn't feel too badly about that after I found out they walked around Philly in the pouring rain, missed out on seeing the Liberty Bell due to long lines, and got stuck in traffic for 2 hours on the way home. Imagine that bus ride full of wet, smelly 5th graders!

Well, when sports day rolled around, it was another wet, nasty day. So, instead of full day of fun outside, they were stuck inside the gym for a whopping 60 minutes playing "Butterfingers." It sure freed up my schedule, but I felt for them getting gypped again. Somehow, these three neighborhood buddies ended up on the same team. Pretty fun.

And finally, (finally!) after 2 dozen snow days this winter, the last day of school arrived. There wasn't any program or fanfare for the 5th graders, but there also wasn't any sadness!

Marie, on the otherhand, had a cute little program, complete with songs, poems, and awards. It was sweet.

 

They also showed a slideshow from the year, where I caught these girls giggling, singing, and dancing along. There's a lot of personality there, I can't wait to watch them grow up (or can I).

 

It was a great year, and I couldn't have asked for a better start for Marie!