The Last Day of School 2012

The last day of school was rainy and dreary so these first pictures look like the dead of night, but it was an otherwise upbeat and exciting day.

The last day of kindergarten

Last day of 4th grade

Last day of 5th grade

Gentry is leaving elementary school for the great adventure of middle school, so we went to her 4th grade "walk" where the entire school lines the halls and cheers for them one last time. It looks like she and the boy next to her are holding hands, but I assure you they are NOT. She would rather die.

Parent bragging alert:  Ava had her 5th grade awards assembly earlier in the week. I was bursting with pride for our oldest girl. I know every parent thinks their children are the smartest, wittiest, etc., but this child is unique (and I know every parent says that too!). Each teacher since kindergarten has told us some variation of "Ava is special/extraordinary", etc. She holds herself to an impossibly high academic standard and surpasses it each year. They also mention her character or servant heart, which makes me especially proud. At the awards assembly, she earned an exceptional number of awards and the audience spontaneously applauded her individually. I was moved to tears. Of course, she was only concerned with the fact that she had missed the perfect attendance award by one class period because I had taken her to have her teeth cleaned that day. Who tracks attendance by the class period?!

Shaking hands with one of her teachers, her assistant principal and her adorable guidance counselors.

 
On to 6th grade!

I always try to find a fun way to commemorate the last day of school. Sometimes it's a banner the girls run through or a poster on the door announcing all the summer activities they will enjoy. This year I went with a bunch of balloons on the front door. I also filled a bucket with water guns and silly string, and waited to ambush them as they walked home from school.

Tatum walked up the front sidewalk with a big frown because she was so sad to be saying goodbye to her teacher, so it was a gamble shooting her in the face with silly string, but she grinned and the fight was on! Gentry was deadly with her aim.

When Ava got home later we had to do it all over again. I devised a plan to get her out the front door (she had come in through the garage and didn't see the silly string debris out front), and Gentry attacked her.

 She retaliated.

Great job on another successful year, girls! Let summer begin!