End of the school year stuff

The end of school is always extra crazy and busy (all good things, all good things). I'm combining all the craziness into one blog to speed things along.

 The middle and elementary schools had lunch-with-your-kid days, which we enjoyed doing. 

They also had spirit week. This was super hero day. I have a love/hate relationship with spirit week. My kids love dressing up, but it makes our mornings even more hectic as they coordinate and search for just the right accessories. 

Of course the annual Fun Run is always a hit. It's my favorite kind of fundraiser. No silly catalogs.

Levi tied for 1st place for first grade. He never slowed down!

Brennan's grade ran at the end of the day, and it was hot! Chloe was a trooper for spending so much time at the school that day.

The boys were a tad disappointed that they didn't get popsicles this year. I gave them some when we got home.

This was our first year attending the big high school band fundraiser. It's a fancy dinner (prepared by the culinary students), silent auction and jazz concert at Pear Valley Winery. It was one of the best silent auctions I've ever seen, and we bought quite a few things (music lessons, gift certificates, and amusement park tickets).

Spencer and Tyler served appetizers and played in the jazz band.

 My parents went also. That made the evening even more enjoyable!

The food was excellent!!

 The jazz band was wonderful, as always.

 The jazz band also performed at the high school open house. 

They only played a couple of songs for this one.

Then Tyler ran over to serve the pineapple salsa he made for the big salsa competition the Spanish students do every year. It was very good. Any excuse to dress up!

Brennan loves salsa, and he enjoyed sampling them all.

 Chloe goes to open house to pet all the animals from the ag department.

We always really enjoy the band concerts at the end of the year. The middle school band is small but good. This was Dallin's last year with his teacher, Ms. Ware. She's switching to teaching all choir classes while the high school band teacher, Mr. Galvan, is moving over to the middle school. Lots of changes next year!

These two cousins have had a lot of fun together this year (carpool, band, nutrition, lunch, history club, chess club, etc). Dallin will really miss Peter next year when he moves up to high school!

Dave wasn't able to make it to this concert, since he was at his sister's wedding in West Virginia. I recorded Dallin's trumpet solo and sent it to him. He did great!

The high school band concert was awesome too. 

The high school band is also quite small but good. Hopefully it will grow over the new few years, since they've brought music back to the elementary schools. The music program really took a hit with the budget cuts.

These kids will really miss Mr. Galvan! They are eager to meet the new guy at band camp next week.

Good job, boys! Handsome and talented :)

Chloe graduated from preschool this year. This was her last day. She misses it like crazy and can't wait to go to kindergarten in a few weeks.

She looked so cute in her little cap and gown!

 And she knows how to work the camera! 

Brennan and Levi went to her graduation with me (Dave was still out of town) with hopes of getting cookies afterwards. They always serve cookies, but this year they didn't! They were quite disappointed. We ate dinner at Wendy's afterwards to celebrate and made cookies when we got home.

Dallin had so many big projects due at the end of the year. I guess they all did, but Dallin always puts so much effort into each project that it really takes a lot of work and late nights. He managed to get another perfect report card!

His school had a big pool party for everyone who made the Principal's Honor Role. They needed adult chaperones, so I went. I hope to volunteer at the schools more next year, with Chloe in school.

There weren't as many kids there as one would expect. They had a BBQ, music, luau decorations, and sunglasses and leis for everyone. I sat under a tree and visited with another mom the whole time. It was lovely.

Brennan and Levi both had field trips to the beach this year, and Chloe and I went to both of them. Brennan went to Hearst Beach. It was just their class, and it was totally relaxed. What a fun teacher!

We got there late (I had something else going on that day - I can't remember what), but we got to eat lunch with him and play in the sand.

Levi's class went to Avila Beach. They went to the little aquarium, played in the sand, flew kites and played at the park. It was so fun!

Levi was in a Kinder/1st grade combo class this year. I wasn't happy about it at first, but we loved his teacher so much that it all worked out.

After they sang a bunch of songs, his teacher gave everyone in the class a personalized award. Yes, Levi does have a Creative Spirit. She also mentioned his quirky love of potatoes.

We had cookies and lemonade after the awards ceremony. These were Levi's 2 best friends at school this year: Jeremy and Joel.

This was Brennan's first year competing in BOB. He didn't read all the books, but he had fun hanging out with his cousin Eric all day. He is really going to miss him when he moves up to middle school this year. Seriously, he doesn't know who he's going to hang out with at lunch and recess. Time to make some new friends.

And we made it to the last day of school!! The last few weeks are so busy that it's always a huge relief to have to over.  

We were blessed with amazing teachers this year: Ms. Rodriguez and Mrs. Goldbach! 

Spencer and Tyler filled their car with instruments to practice over the summer. The upright bass has been quite popular. A couple more weeks of summer, and it starts all over again.