School-year wrap-up

In May Sam had the only off-campus field trip of the year that extra parents were actually invited to attend. So I opted to go. We went to a local state park. First a kind, older gentleman took us on a very kid-friendly hike and taught us about wildlife and trees. The kids ate a picnic lunch. Then they learned about nymphs and larvae before playing in a stream to try to catch said nymphs and larvae.

The next end-of-year school activity I attended was awards day. Sam received a number of awards including all A's for the year, top in the class for a reading comprehension program and an online math program, and an award for participation in a monthly reading program. After the awards program, I took Sam and our friend Reagan home from school early. We also went to Costco for some celebratory pizza.

Nathanael's school year ended a couple weeks before Sam's and so we made sure to squeeze in a couple of lunch visits with Sam. Nathanael was always excited for the opportunity to go but Claire spent so much time at Sam's lunches this year that she had become quite underwhelmed. 

Our last activity, possibly ever at that elementary school, was field day. Nathanael, Claire, and I tagged along as the class made their way through all of the field day stations. The weather was perfect. It didn't start getting miserably hot until things were wrapping up. Nathanael even got to get in on tug-of-war, which he was quite excited about. 

After that, Sam decided he was done with the year. He still had plenty of absences to spare, so he skipped a few days, including the very last day. It was a good thing, really, because the kids have come to expect a "special day" on the first day of their summer vacation, and I wouldn't have been able to squeeze it in, otherwise, before we left for Utah. 

"Special day" is a tradition that came about because I'm cheap and, out of principle, I didn't want to pay for Sam to be able to participate in kindergarten graduation. So, I told him that if he skipped that, then we would have a "special day". I don't mind that they have come to expect it. It's a fun way to reward them for getting through another school year. 

This year was a pretty simplified special day. Per tradition, we went to get donuts for breakfast. It happened to also be National Donut Day, so we each got a free donut. Most people would then feel like they should at least buy a beverage so they don't look like a total cheapskate. But I didn't. First stop on special day: free! Next up, Toys 'R Us. Paul had promised Sam Pokemon cards if he got straight A's for the entire year and, therefore of course, Nathanael expected a train set. So I had to take them to make good on the promise. The secret is, I still had a couple of gift cards they had gotten for their birthdays long ago. Making good on Dad's promises: inexpensive. Our final stop was lunch with Dad. The boys had decided months (or at least weeks) earlier that they wanted to get food from QT (a gas station, for Pete's sake) on their special day. So, that's where we headed. But, once inside it was agreed upon to go to Costco for pizza instead.  And thus we wrapped up another successful school year and began our summer!