School’s Out for Summer!

Summer break has officially started and I cannot believe we now have a 2nd grader and 4th grader!

This was such a wild year of development for our kids — academically and personally. It has been an absolute joy to watch our kids continue to grow so much in school, in their sports and hobbies, and in their character over the past year.

I feel so grateful for the teachers we had this year too who have really pushed our kids to reach their full potential, created an amazing community of friendship and support within their classrooms, and helped prepare Thomas and Caroline for the school transition ahead. We’ve been really fortunate to have such wonderful teachers during our entire time at our sweet elementary school, and I truly feel like our kids were placed with the exact teachers they needed this past year — and for that I feel tremendously thankful.

The last day of school was bittersweet as predicted.

Caroline had a pretty tough goodbye at the end of the school day — so many hugs and tears. She is a deeply feeling and loving little girl so her friendships mean everything to her and we have promised to stay in touch with her little group of girls that she’s grown so close with over the last 4 years. Beyond friendships, leaving behind the halls that have felt so familiar to her, the smiling faces of the teachers who have loved her so much, her position on the school leadership team and more, the last day of school marked a significant step in the school transition for her. She’s so brave and resilient and I know she’s going to thrive at her new school, but dang this has been hard to navigate as a parent.

The final awards ceremony for the year was held on the last morning of school and as part of the program, the Principal announced the student in each grade receiving the “Outstanding Eagle Award,” an award for being a role model and leader at school, and THOMAS WON IT FOR FIRST GRADE!!! He was beyond excited to hear his name called and as soon as he got up on stage, he grabbed his certificate and ran over to his sister (already on stage for a speaking role during the program) and they gave each other the biggest hug ever.

When the kids arrived home, I had our summer bucket list waiting for them which contained their surprise from me and Matt for working so hard in school this year — a day at Volcano Bay!!

Then we headed down the street to McKinsey’s “last day of school” pool party at her parents’ house. This was a really sweet party because it was for the 5 families (totaling 13 kids) who all share the same bus stop on our street — plus us! I still cannot get over how many kids live in our new neighborhood and love that they all go to school together. In fact, we have two school buses just for our neighborhood.

Since moving in, we’ve spent so much time hanging out with the “bus stop crew” and it’s been such a joy watching our kids make such fast friendships with all their neighbors. We are really looking forward to officially joining the stop when school starts!

The party was a blast. There was lots of yummy food and I brought a pencil cake (I had made at the grocery store) for dessert! It was a great night and really felt like the perfect way to celebrate the end of one chapter and the beginning of our next chapter.

Here’s to a sweet summer ahead!