Summer break started about 24 hours ago and Reece is already asking what is next on the family schedule.  This is my first red flag that it could be a long summer!!  I’m personally just thrilled to not have any homework, no lunches to pack, water bottles to fill, or remembering healthy ‘refueling’ school snacks.  Although, this sigh of relief will soon be replaced with a brain cramp figuring out logistics and driving kids to and from a million summer activities!  Yikes, come Tuesday morning, I’m going to be thrown to the wolves and realize that I over-scheduled everybody once again.  When will I learn to say no!?

Yesterday was an absolute whirlwind of ‘last day of school’ activities.  This turned out to be a blessing because I was too busy to be sad about my kids growing up and moving on to new schools.

Every day this year I have picked up Morgan on the side of the school in ‘secret’ illegal parking. I’m proud to say, I never officially got caught and I saved this sweet girl from a long bus ride home. For the record, I’m not the only one that avoids the carpool line like the plague and risks the chance of being reprimanded by the school.  Oops-it might be me they are referring to in the school newsletter each week to not park on the side street 😉  I can’t believe I will never see this beautiful girl walk down this middle school lawn ever again!Due to some scheduling overlap today, she was forced to ride the bus home and you can see by her expression that she was thrilled!!

Actually, she really didn’t complain and just happened to get caught with my poor photography skills!  Shortly after this, she spent the afternoon at the park eating pizza and brownies with her friends and a special visit from Ava & Ellie (her good friends that moved to TX over the winter break).

Morgan will say goodbye to bus #54 and Jake will say hello in August!  I’m going to give MoMo some props here because she is very kind to her bus driver and he has mentioned on several occasions that he wishes he had more students on the bus like Morgan.  Thank you for treating the bus driver with respect and kindness!

There was not really an official party to speak of, but the 8th grade class did get an afternoon off school a few weeks ago at PowerPlay.  No surprise that these girls took a picture with their tongues out.  What is it with that trend!?  It’s so weird!

Manchester Park did an awesome job providing a party to send off the 5th graders to their new school.  There’s about 125 5th graders, so they split into groups and rotated to stations outside.  Lately it’s been feeling like we live in Seattle with cold temps and rain almost every day but we got lucky and had beautiful weather for this early morning party.

They had a photo booth…

Human Hungry Hungry Hippos!!  You remember this game right?  

SO FUN!!They had a DJ and Limbo!Then Mr. Rebel decided to jump over the limbo stick which is strongly discouraged by the school staff.  Strangely enough, it was his teacher that caught this on camera!  This could’ve really ended badly, Jakers…Next they rotated to a tag game…At the next station, all the kids got their own shaved ice.  The Kona Ice truck pulled right up on the playground for them!

Next they had some free time to dance to the DJ (the girls really got into this part!), sign a banner to the incoming 5th graders (thank you Stacey!), sign t-shirts, and hit up up the popcorn & candy station.  WOW – what an awesome way to spend your last day of 5th grade!

About an hour later, all the parents were invited into the school gym for a “clap out.”  I have never really heard that term before but it basically is an opportunity for the 5th graders to parade through the school and all of us clapped for them as they walk through the doors of Manchester Park for the last time.

Many of the girls were sobbing and even some big tough boys!  Which caused all the little kids in the school to start crying!  UGH – this seems like a bad idea!!  Seeing the teachers crying is what gets me.  Even if you have no feelings at all, it’s hard not to well up when you see your child’s teacher crying that they will never get to see these kids in the hallways again.  Jake of course couldn’t muster up a tear if he tried!

and I caught these cute 3rd and 1st graders on the way out…no tears here!!

Here are some flashback photos when Morgan was a 5th grader–they didn’t get a party or any kind of recognition on the last day of school because we had a very strict principal at the time.  Sorry Morgan, but your 5th grade class really got shafted!!  Thankfully, a mom organized a little donut breakfast before school that day and they marched across the street with a banner.

Flipping back to current – Drew made plans to go to lunch with his buddies at Freddy’s and some time at the park after school.

And I took Reece to a “school’s out for summer” party in the neighborhood, complete with lunch, an ice cream truck, and about a hundred people!

Jake made his own plans and rode his bike with friends to Subway for lunch, to Jarvey’s the local shaved ice place, and to Price Chopper for cookies.

See what I’m saying – the last day of school is a total WHIRLWIND!!  And an excuse to eat and drink like crazies and exhaust your parents beyond the point of no return.  I’ve barely had a moment to be sad that my kids are moving on to new chapters!

Love you guys and thank you for letting me be a part of your last day of school activities!

Happy Summer!