Last Day of School!

Today was the last day of school, and I am relieved!! This year my kids have grown so much, physically, emotionally, and academically.

Below are pics from the first day of school Sept. 2010 and the last day June 2011:


First Day

 Last Day

Probably part of my relief stemmed from the fact I worked the last two weeks of the school year.  As a Sub-Teacher I usually don't work everyday, and have the luxury of setting my own schedule.  Having slacked off a bit on accepting jobs the last couple of months I felt I should take this opportunity to work before summer break. It was however very hard for me to have to miss some great end of the year events like: Fun Day, 2nd Grade Olympics, and The Last Day of School.  Now, I know many working parents aren't able to make all these extra events during the day at school, but for me this was the first time I couldn't be there and it was difficult!

We are ready for trips to the zoo, Greenfield Village, strawberry picking, Splash Park, playdates and camping!! TGIS (Thank Goodness It's Summer!)

Camping

Our new tent that will be returned this week since two parts broke the first time putting it together!

My boys waiting for dinner to cook on our 1st night.

Our family went camping this last weekend.  Overall it was a success, but we did learn some important lessons about tent camping.  I wanted to write down some of the funny things that happened before I forgot them, so here it goes: 1) Before setting up the tent, it may be prudent to rake/sweep the said area so large sticks don't make walking in the tent uncomfortable. 2) Decide where you want your tent to go before putting it together.  Usually you won't break pieces if you don't have to move the tent after it's assembled. 3) Don't forget your pump for the air mattresses...it's less embarassing than asking to borrow someone else's. 

Now after reading the above tips you may question whether or not we've been camping before...we have (many times)!  I think we were so excited to go on the first trip of the year and stay at the campground for three nights, that we just weren't thinking clearly! 

The first night we were pretty much alone in the campground, which was GREAT!  The kids weren't as happy because they really didn't have anyone else to play with. This was the first time we took our dog Rocket camping, and I was really nervous about how he would react.  He ended up doing extremely well and the fact that the campground wasn't packed with families (and other dogs) worked in our favor.  The only time he barked, was if another dog walked by our campsite.  The campground has an awesome dog walk park which he enjoyed going to a couple times a day.

Some Scout friends came up to camp for the remainder of the weekend on Friday and we all had a blast.  The campground had a variety of planned activities for the kids like a scavenger hunt, amazing race, marshmallow roasting, and dodgeball.  The kids loved being able to ride bikes all around the campground (as long as they had a buddy) and the sense of freedom that came from this.  We went swimming in the lake several times and on Sunday morning the boys went fishing and caught a few bites. What a trip, can't wait for the next one!