End of School and Start of Summer!

As school wrapped up this year, Chase and I were both a little sad. He has had the best time in first grade. I asked him how he felt about school ending and his reply was "bittersweet", which I totally agree with. Summer is so fun and awesome, but it's hard to see such a great year and situation come to an end. I snapped this picture of these three on one of their last days of school. We carpooled with Luca and Jazmyn all year and it was such a cute little carpool. These three are such sweet little friends and I've been thankful for it! 

Hudson had his preschool graduation! It was fun to see him sing his songs with so much enthusiasm and excitement! He loved preschool and Mrs. Young was so wonderful to him. He's ready for kindergarten for sure! In fact, he told us that since it's summer "I'm a temporary kindergartener and Chase is a temporary 2nd grader. In the fall we'll be official."

This was one of our last mornings getting them all ready for school. Since it was such dreamy spring weather we spent several of those last mornings playing outside for a little bit before school. 

Memorial Day weekend we went swimming for the first time! These boys are all total fish in the water and we are looking forward to spending a lot of time there this summer! Davis, not surprisingly loved it and also thinks he can swim. He's a real hazard in the water!

Chase's class put on the cutest little play! He was a narrator and did such a great job! He said all his lines with lots of enthusiasm and expression. Hudson loved watching the play and told me half way through "I wish I was in this play!" I can't say enough good about his teachers this year- they were wonderful to him and for him. They genuinely loved and appreciated him, which meant so much to me as a mom!

 This LONG anticipated event finally happened- Chase got to pull out some teeth! He's been so impatiently waiting to legitimately lose teeth like all his friends are. At almost 7.5 some of his friends have lots 5 or more and it's been hard to wait! Those bottom two teeth had gotten pretty loose and the night before school ended he suddenly became insistent that they come out. Ben helped him wrap some floss around them (one at a time) but Chase wanted to pull them himself. He gave the floss and firm yank and they popped right out! He was laughing and squealing in delight! It was so cute and funny. He was thrilled that the tooth fairy came and brought him $2! And then he was so glad it happened in time that he could show everyone on the last day of school!

 The last day of first grade! What a year! He's a natural student and loves to learn, and it was fun to see him work super hard and try even though he could easily sit back and ride on all his previous knowledge. His writing came leaps and bounds this year and I loved reading through his monthly essays in his portfolio. His teachers focused so much on social skills through their "leader in me" program and it's been amazing for Chase. He learned a lot of social lessons this year too, while sometimes hard, were a really good thing for him. He took his lunch every day (after three times trying school lunch he decided it wasn't for him) and loved having three recesses. First grade was a huge win for him!

Our first summer morning! Although we have yet to lounge around much- we've been go-go-go since summer started! I think maybe we will chill out soon....

 We went on a hike on a cooler day as a family. It's fun to hike the same trails year after year and see the kids be able to go farther and handle it better each time. Although Davis did not like that backpack- he kept just reaching up and smacking me in protest. And then he figured out how to climb out and I just carried him in my arms for the rest of the hike.

We went with a bunch of our neighbors up to Silver Lake one morning. This is the prettiest spot on earth I think. I love it up there! The drive is a little long, but it's definitely worth it. These kids played and played and the moms enjoyed chatting, we stayed for 2.5 hours before heading back down the canyon. Our newish neighbor, Lizzie Jones, road in our car. She's a newly wed and doesn't have kids yet, but came anyway and Hudson immediately took to her and pretty much talked to her nonstop the entire time we were there. He was in his imaginary world with a pretend motorcycle and looking for pirate ships and whatever else was happening in his little mind and she was a good sport to go along with all of it! Chase loved scampering up and down this rock face with Ella. And Davis was pretty happy in the stroller, but loved any time I let him get out and play in the dirt and act BIG like his brothers. It was a super wonderful morning!

And otherwise our first week of summer has been packed with lots of swimming, a bunch of playdates, some popsicles, the end of baseball season, staying up late, going to a magic show at the library, and watched some movies. It's been an awesome start to summer. Hopefully at some point we'll get in some relaxing too...