Saying Goodbye

The end of the school year was pretty emotional for all of us this year.

It all started when we decided for Pete to switch schools. Saying goodbye to a wonderful school and amazing co-workers was harder on him than he thought it would be. It was really amazing seeing how much everyone appreciated him; his superintendent bought him a going away cake, and all the male teachers in the middle and high schools threw him a going away party.

We also found out that I was losing five babysitting kids for this next year. Now, it's nice going to a less crazy schedule, but these five kids were the ones I've had the longest. E & L were getting to be old enough to go home on their own (they'll be going into 5th and 7th grades); this had been my fourth year with them. J, E, & L are moving to a different school district; I've been watching these kids off and on for five years, and they'll be especially hard to say goodbye to as J is Nate's best friend. These five kids were like family, and we're sad to see them go.

On E&L's last day, we had to have a really fun day. We had homemade ice cream sandwiches (the sandwich part was homemade, not the ice cream!), and then spent the afternoon outside:

We played volleyball...

...and played on the swing set....

...and played some baseball!

Goodbye, E&L!

We were unable to fully celebrate with J, E, & L as their mom got out of her last day of school hours early, but I had parting gifts for them. J loved playing with Nate and his cars, so we got him a set of really cool Matchbox cars, and for E & L, we got some princess jewelry cause all little girls love to play dress up!

It will be weird next school year without these five awesome kids hanging around!