The End of School

Will's last day of first grade was yesterday. How did that happen?!?! This week has been busy getting ready for the end of the school year.  

Henry and I made a big batch of sweet chipotle nuts to give as gifts for Will's teacher and the two room moms.  

It's a good thing we gave most of them away. They are addictive!

Will got to wear his tie-dyed shirt again on Wednesday for the end-of-year party.  

Fun with his buddies.  

Check it out! The party had a DJ!

 Here is Will getting ready for his last day of first grade.

Meanwhile, Henry and I were (literally) cooking up a big end-of-the-year celebration for Will.  

 

We made a cake, using the recipe from this book, A Cake All for Me. We've had this book for ages, and the boys love it. The main character is a pig who bakes a cake just for himself but ends up sharing it with friends. As a result, we call the cake a "piggy cake."

 We decorated the cake 

and then went out and wrote a special message on the driveway.

My boys are such big readers that I know our summer will be full of reading and books. I already signed them up for four different summer reading programs! I surprised the boys with stacks of new books.  Here is Henry's stack, which has several early readers, a Scaredy Squirrel book, a cooking magazine and a dot-to-dot activity book.

Will's stack has a couple of nonfiction books, a new novel, and a Captain Underpants book of fun. 

We picked Will up at noon and I snapped a picture with his teacher.  

We had lunch out with friends, and then came home to the Welcome to Summer party. Henry was in on most of the planning but he didn't know about the books and was so excited and surprised!

Will went straight for Captain Underpants, of course.

Ah, summer! We are going to enjoy you! 

Splish Splash

We spent most of last weekend outside. After yard work and visits to the farmers market, we needed some splash time in the backyard.  

The cousins joined us.  

Saturday was hot, so it was the perfect day to splash in the small pool.

 Sunday was cooler but the boys still splashed outside.

Will made water art on the fence,

while Henry made hand-print art on the driveway.

While the boys played, we enjoyed this

and this.

We're hoping for to a repeat performance this weekend!

Lately: Science, Crazy Animals, and a Wizard

Here's a peek into what we've been up to for the past week or so:

Henry came home from his last day of school with this note. I like that he is a happy lawyer!

Coffee in my new "a" mug from Heather.  

Shopping at Whole Foods with my little sidekick. Carts for kids = the best idea ever!

Poor Weezie got her tail caught in the back door on Memorial Day. Nothing was broken but she did need a trip to the 24-hour vet for stitches and has to wear this ridiculous cone. She is not happy with us right now!

We went to the zoo with the cousins

and saw the new Lego animals exhibit.

All made out of Legos!

Very cool.

We saw real animals too, including a snake the kids could touch.  

Henry and I have been making volcanoes

and wearing vampire teeth.  

The wizard's hat has been popular lately.   

Only four more days of school for my big boy and then we are on summer vacation. We are READY!

Camp Read-a-Lot

The entire first grade (all 10 classes!) at West U participated in Camp Read-a-Lot yesterday at school. It was such a fun idea! Basically, it was like the kids went off to reading camp for the day. They packed up sleeping bags, pillows, lanterns, flashlights and loads of books for a full day of reading! 

On Thursday, the kids tie-dyed shirts and then they all wore them to camp. Here's my big boy all ready for reading camp.

The parents were asked to make care packages that would be distributed at mail call by the camp counselor (teacher). 

Henry and I each wrote a letter to Will. Henry added some stickers to his letter.

We packed a special snack too. I thought disassembled s'mores would be the perfect fit for camp!

Since it was a reading camp, we were asked to provide books in the care package. Will got Wizardology, Mummies and Pyramids (Magic Treehouse Fact Tracker), and The Captain Underpants Extra-Crunchy Book o' Fun.  

 Check out all these care packages for the class! 

I am the class photographer this year, so I got to visit Camp Read-a-Lot and take photos of all the campers. Since Henry is out of school, he got to tag along.   

The campers!

Will loves Harry Potter, so he was reading Quidditch Through the Ages.  

Henry brought along one of our Fly Guy books so he could read too.  

There was even a campfire. How fun!

Camp Read-a-Lot was a perfect idea for the end of the school year when the kids are tired and grades are turned in. It turned a full day of reading into a really fun event for the kids. Can I go to Camp Read-a-Lot next year?