And Great Fun Was Had By Most

M loved climbing on the rocks and playing in the water


M with his good friends the twins - we heard a lot about his exploits with these two boys



I survived the kindergarten graduation at the beach!!! After all the anticipation and running around at the last minute to get my husband’s (and some of the other parents’) background check done, it wasn’t completed by the district in time for the big day. Bummer. So, he got to go to work as usual, and I got to go to the beach with the kindergarten classes and Boo.

It was a beautiful day, breezy and not too hot – perfect for a kindergarten graduation and picnic. All the classes lined up and sang some cute songs they’d been working on during the year. The one they sang to the tune of “New York, New York” about going on to first grade even brought tears to my eyes. I can’t believe my little M is going into first grade!! He’s just getting so big.

I started the day a little perturbed about the semi lack of planning for this trip. Then at the grocery store while picking up the chicken tenders I had added to what I’d already signed up to bring because of the note that came home chiding us parents because not enough people had signed up to bring chicken (hence some of the frustration along with the fact that hubby didn’t get to come), I ran into some other parents who were feeling just as perturbed. We all were wondering why we couldn’t just have everyone bring their own sack lunches – it would have been much easier to plan that way. Oh, and we ended up with so much chicken that the squirrels got into all the leftovers after lunch. So, in a weird sort of way I felt better to know that pretty much all the parents would have rather done this in the school auditorium. Then when I got to the beach and opened the back of the van, the smaller of the two coolers I’d packed fell out on my foot. Ouch. I got M’s beach bag, which he’d forgotten to take into school for the bus ride with his friends, my bag of towels and Boo’s diaper bag with her lunch, two coolers and Boo’s stroller out of the van. Can you see where this is heading? I got most of the stuff over to the picnic area, left Boo in the care of a mom I trusted, and went back for the big cooler. This would have been so much easier with the other half of M’s parents at the beach. Sigh. Then, when we moms who had arrived before the school bus got all the food spread out in the picnic pavilion, the school bus arrived, and my son’s teacher said that we needed to split our class from the other classes and go way over to the other picnic tables. Sigh again. So, we tried to figure out which chicken boxes and other food stuffs were from our class and trekked across the way down to the beach tables under the trees. Thankfully some of the other dads helped with all our coolers because we moms said we just couldn’t carry them that much further.

With that little complaint out of the way, I have to say that the day actually turned out really nicely. I loved their little concert, and the kids had a blast when we broke up into groups to have a scavenger hunt for shells, crabs, drift wood, etc. Then, after lunch, the kids got to play in the water. Some of the parents and teachers stood out about knee deep and kept the kids from going out deeper and they had fun in the chilly water jumping in the waves, which were pretty strong since the tide was coming in. I have to brag on Boo, too. We had just found out the afternoon before that she has an ear infection, so I was nervous about how she’d do if she wasn’t feeling well. She was great. She just chilled out in her stroller until lunch, ate some of the chicken and other food we’d brought, then enjoyed being carried around the beach for the scavenger hunt and wading. She wasn’t too thrilled about having her feet down on the sand or in the water, but I guess those waves must have seemed pretty intimidating to her. We were so much past her nap time that she finally just fell asleep in my arms while we were wading with the kids after lunch. But she never fussed. And M got to have a great time playing in the waves with his buddies. I put up some pictures of him with his good friends, but I painted out the school name on their shirts.

All in all, the kids had a good time, and we were there for them. That’s what really mattered, not the frustration we parents felt about the planning or lack thereof. So, one more week of school, and then we’re off for summer break! We’re all pretty excited about that around here.