the last day

School is officially out.

It's summer.

And my loving relationship with that season is blooming.  Thanks for the encouragement in my little funk last week before that last school bell signaled our freedom (back HERE).  Life is oh so good, but I am always on a journey of seeking out balance here in my little pocket of the desert.  Sometimes I like to share that because know most of us are in the same boat, no matter where we live or what we are doing.  Life is all about adjusting and living to the fullest in any circumstance we find ourselves in.  

Ok, so on to the last day of school.   

Lucy made sure we did our traditional rainbow pancakes.  
 ...and she made sure I put socks in her hair the night before too:

That was the first time she's ever cared about her hair.

My little girl is growing up :)

Here they are before Elle took off:
 Lu was holding onto those socks for a little longer.



 There we go with the socks out:

We were so on-the-ball (very rare around here) that we actually caught the bus to school for the first time since we moved.  Lu was pretty happy about that.

 It was the "Golden Scholar" dealio at the Junior High that day.
 Fun to watch Grace glow amidst all those cute kids.
 I kinda think the parents were glowing too...

So proud of our little Gracie Jam.

After that I was scrambling from one school to the next...talking to counselors at the high school, taking little "thank yous" around to the people who have helped us out so much this school year, picking up Grace and her friends for my favorite of all favorite things:
(That is sarcasm in case you didn't catch it...I can't stand those drinks (HERE), but I sure love the kids and it was the last day of school so, you know, I'm a softie.

I caught Claire and Lucy's class parties the day before...
...and got to hang with Lu and her wonderful teacher for a little bit on the last day.
I am always so very grateful for every teacher my kids have.  Honestly, teachers are amazing.  But I have an extra special spot in my heart for Lucy's teachers.  I tear up every time I think about the difference they have made in Lucy's life.  This one in particular has helped her through maneuvering a bunch of first grade social stuff, which is always a little emotional for my mother's heart.  She has kept in touch with us to keep her on grade level academically.  She has made Lucy shine and for that, she will always be a "Mrs. Twinkle" in my eyes (HERE).

Claire had this teacher when she was in first grade too.  Boy we are thankful to her!
Heart-melter right there.

We did the party hosting for Grace's friends after school.
Check out Lu there in the middle.  They totally included her all afternoon/evening.

Honestly she played chess for like three hours (I just taught the kids to play chess last week...they are fascinated with it).
 She had a few different darling opponents.


Yes I'm aware Max isn't pictured once in this post.  That's pretty much because I didn't see him or Elle the rest of the day.  He had late finals so he missed the rainbow breakfast hoopla and he had big plans after school.  Thank Heaven's for Instagram (and his friend Jack who posts regularly) that I even have a picture of him:

It's been a good year.  Probably the best yet.  I'm always sad that another year means they are all getting that much older, but it's hard to complain when they are becoming the people they are.

Because boy oh boy, I like them :)