I am a firm believer that school should get out for the year the Friday before Memorial Day, or at the very least the last day of May. I also believe it shouldn’t start until the Tuesday after Labor Day. Surely we can cram the amount of learning that needs to happen into that window, especially if we eliminate several of the “workdays” and shorten the breaks by a day here and there. Let these poor kids have a summer….kick it off with a pool party and end it with a kicka$$ barbecue.
But, at least where we live that is not the case. The kids were still in school at the beginning of June, and my young man actually had his “graduation” (see May for my thoughts on this) on June 1. My baby is moving on from elementary school. He’s gone to 3 different schools and for sure has had his ups and downs, but by and large I think he loved it. 5th grade was fun because he finally got to be the big man on campus, even though he was new to the school. He made a nice little group of friends, and I’m happy that if we’re still living in Denver come August, those kids will move with him to middle school.
On this day though, we got dressed up and celebrated Jackson. Reese opted to go to school because it was the last day and she was busy doing….well, nothing. I don’t blame her, I remember what that last day was like. You love on your friends like you won’t see them again in just 9 short weeks….
The music teacher had put together this pretty cool program for the kids to perform and I was impressed….and teary. These milestones make me very emotional (see also May).
I tried to upload the video of him receiving his “diploma” and the part where his father tries to embarrass the pants off of him, but can’t seem to make it work. I am a technological wizard.
A solid 15 hours later, the ceremony was over and we were ready to get to the business of summer. But, first a few pics for mom’s sake.
The new school has a really awesome 5th Grade continuation party to celebrate these young people moving onward and upward. It’s not “officially” (I am using a lot of quotation marks in this post) a school sponsored event, but a large group of parents organize this with a little help from the school administration. It’s held at a place called The Island, which is essentially an indoor volleyball facility. The kids didn’t give two rats tails about the volleyball, but the sand and games and frolicking with their friends was pure joy. My favorite part though was the DJ and his crew, who spent the day showing the 11-year-old girls their moves. It was like every 80’s movie I ever loved because these guys were directly from 1987 and those girls ate it up. I was so very entertained.
And then there were the old school games. I loved watching Jackson enjoying every minute of this with his classmates. I especially loved watching the part where these young kids full of bravado thought they could win a tug-of-war contest against the grown ups. I mean, they held their own for almost 2.5 seconds before their faces were buried in the sand like an ostrich.
And then there was everyone’s favorite, the limbo. And no one’s favorite, the water balloon toss. Wait, maybe it’s just the moms who don’t like that one….#morelaundry
With us being new to the school, I didn’t get a chance to know these kids much. But, the ones I did meet, and from the stories that Jackson tells about them, I was happy for his 5th grade experience. Bring on middle school….
We had one final “task” to wrap up before we could really begin enjoying summer. My little dancer had been working tirelessly through the year, rehearsing and practicing and studying….once a week for an hour, in preparation for her stage debut. We applied the requisite red lipstick and mascara which she LOVED.
(Side note: Once again, my photography skills are lacking. I blame the movement of the dance. Like Michael Flatley. You ever see a good picture of that guy’s feet?)
But, I did manage to get a good pic of these three cuties. Maybe John took it….whatever. I had my hands full with the lipstick.
And then, there we were. A full summer of no commitments (sort of) lay ahead of us. We could stay up late, sleep in and do whatever we wanted for the next 10 weeks.
So, we got right to work.
With some swimming….
And some softball….
And some time spent on the patio with the puppies….
And the sleeping in…
And the golf. For the second year, Jackson participated in the PGA Junior League. It’s such a cool program that allows these kids to compete in a match play situation but in a scramble format. For those of you that are golf-illiterate, that means that they have a partner to take off some of the pressure, and they play against another team. It’s really super for beginner to intermediate golfers.
Anyway, we spent many an afternoon on the links, plus a few early mornings. But, I love watching the little man golf. I love seeing his competitive nature come to the surface on on the 8th hole when he figures out that he and his partner have to win the next 2 holes. Sometimes it works out and sometimes it doesn’t, and that’s OK. I hope he truly likes the game and isn’t just doing it because he thinks his dad and I want him to play. Make no mistake about it, we do want him to play. But, I am in no way, shape, or form EVER going to force him to play golf. If next summer he says “I’m out” it will be fine.
Secretly (or not so much now) (I am also using a lot of parentheses in this post) (I am drinking wine) I am jealous of the little man’s tennis more so than the golf. I have so many girlfriends who play tennis and try to get me to join them all the time. It looks like such a fun sport, and let’s be honest I love the outfits. I think I’ll take it up for that part alone….
Jackson has been playing tennis for 4 or 5 years now, and really missed playing during the winter. So, top of our list of priorities was finding a JTT program for him. Thankfully, the same country club where he did golf had a great mediocre tennis program, which killed two birds with one stone.
I enjoy watching him play a sport that I don’t play. I sort of know the rules, but occasionally get an eye roll or glare when I question a line call or if I think the other team is foot faulting on their serves. The mama bear in me comes out in full force. On this particular day, the match went into overtime extra innings a tie breaker and it was a nail biter right down to the point when Jackson and his partner won. I almost peed my pants.
And, lest you think we only focus on the athletics in our family while ignoring the culture, I took the kids to see The Little Mermaid at the Boulder Dinner Theater. Overall, it was an enjoyable evening…minus a few snafus. First, by the time the “performers/waiters” serve you dinner and stuff, the first act of the show doesn’t start until almost 8:00. This means the end is WAY past Mama’s bedtime. Secondly, it was SO cold in the theater it was hard to focus on the performance. We all had summertime dresses on, which meant bare legs and arms. It was so bad that at intermission I went out to the car and brought in our beach towels to use as blankets. But, the kids loved the show so it was all worth it.
We also took our cousins on a painting excursion. I think they all did pretty good….especially Malory who bucked the system and decided to “free paint.” Notice she also likes to free pose when we take pictures. That kid…..
In all the chaos, we did manage to get together to celebrate Father’s Day with all of the important daddies in our lives. We watched some golf, ate WAY too much food, and had a few laughs. The kids and I had put together a basket of goodies for their daddy, full of his favorites:
- A bag of potato chips and jar of salsa. He eats these together. Weird.
- A bottle of his favorite red wine
- His favorite candy, SweetTarts Sours
- A few cards made by his kids
- And a new hat embroidered with his favorite friend…Walter.
Happy Father’s Day to all my favorites!
