Endie of Kindie

I could say it every day: 

"My, the last 365 has flown by." 

And every day it is true.  

But in this case, we're really only talking about (roughly) the last 180.  And man, diditeverFLY.

The fact that the end of Tanner's Kindergarten year is two-weeks past and a million memories ago seems strange - the fact that so much has happened since she started Kindergarten seems even stranger.  I mean, we've MOVED since then!  We've grown a 1-year-old since then!  We've eaten pounds and pounds of pizza since then!  

As with any good end, the end of the Kindergarten school year went out with a bang.  AND....I got my first taste of being the parent of a school-aged child who is experiencing fun and games and field trips and winding down the school year while winding up the excitement.  Whirlwindy Chaos doesn't seem to describe it, yet I know there are many, many more hectic Mays ahead of me.  May is CRAZY, y'all!  Even when you are in Kindergarten!

One of Tanner's first big End-of-School-Year May events was FIELD DAY, and I was "lucky" enough to be a Parent Helper!  (Yay!?!?)  In all honesty, it was actually kind of fun, made even better by how excited Tanner was to have me there.  I forget how much fun a mom can be when you're five.  I shall cherish it now, lest when she is SIX it is not as much fun to have mom around :)

All smiles for a fun day!

The fun and games were all held outside, set up in various stations.  Another mom and I were to lead our group around to the stations in an orderly fashion.  Sounds easy enough, right???  What I didn't bargain for was that escorting our team of 8(ish) Kindie's around a large field with lots of distractions was like herding cats:  I'm totally surprised one didn't go missing.  Or perhaps he/she did and I never once realized it.  Food for thought.

Parachute fun! 

Tug of War

Jumping

More Jumping!

Some crazy game called "Junk Food Ball."
Don't even ask.

Water Relays!

Run, Tanner!  Run!

Luckily for us, our group had water relays as the last event.  It was definitely the most anticipated, and therefore worked as a good bribery tactic: "Everyone behave!  We all want to do the Water Relays, right???"  (on a side note, somewhere between Junk Food Ball and Water Relays, I did have to sit a little man down for a time out.  He threw his water bottle at me.  Twice.  No sirrreee, this momma don't play like that!  And later Tanner told me, "Momma, you used the same voice at him that you use when you are angry with me!"  Glad you recognize it, little girl. :)

At the end of the morning, there were lots of adorable little 5- and 6-year olds who had a blast (except for that one kid, who was still pretty pissed that I had set him out).

My team of Kindies.  Most of them.  I think. 

THEY ARE KINDERGARTENERS.  And they are EXHAUSTING.

Tanner & Libby, cute Kindies.

As if running around in the Colorado sun for 2+ hours wasn't exciting enough, next came the treats.

Because there's nothing better than a sugar high and a blue tongue.

Literally a hundred Kindergarteners almost simultaneously sticking their tongues out and asking what color they were.  Kindof cute, Kindof annoying.  And apparently, very funny.

So that was May 17th.

But WAIT!  There's MORE!
Even the fun of field day isn't enough to stop those Kindergarteners!

Next came....

You want to talk about melt.your.heart sweet, let's talk about a bunch of Kindergarteners singing their hearts out for moms, dads, grandparents, siblings, and teachers.  What an adorable little program!

Tanner had been practicing singing the songs around the house for a while, but seeing all those little dahls up on stage was almost too much.  And luckily, the school provided a free DVD to each family, because I spent much of the program managing this:

Why would I sit and watch the program when climbing around like a monkey is so much more fun?

Thankfully, he was mostly quiet.  He was also a very curious and climby monkey.  Which is to say (as I'm quickly learning), he acted like a little BOY.

In addition, I had this to look after:

This dance team put on their own show for a bit
Which, in case you were wondering, shares no similarities with the show on stage.
This is allllll original artwork right here, folks.

In time, Ellery went back and ran circles (literally) around her camera-wielding daddy and left me to the monkey in the stroller.  Small victory.

Oh ya, and I was SUPPOSED to be paying attention to this:

Do you see her?  No?!?  Right there!  Blue shirt, cowgirl hat.  :)
(she's actually top row, 3rd from the right, right under the "to" in "A to Z" :)

Tanner is in the blue shirt, standing right next to Mrs. Culbertson, her Kindergarten teacher :)

Two pictures - I know, it's lame, but John already moved all the pictures from his camera into the abyss of his computer.  I don't have a clue how to find them!  

After the program...snacks!  (of course!)
(being 5 takes a lot of energy that must be repleted with constant snacks.  Or so Tanner thinks!)

So that was May 24th.

BUT WAIT!  There's EVEN MORE! 

After Field Day......After the A to Z Program.....FINALLY it was....

THE LAST DAY OF SCHOOL!

(...there's a reason she's called "Sassy"...)

We came bearing gifts...

Made by TK & Mommy :)

...and I came thinking that while Tanner finished up her last day of school, I might jog around the school neighborhood and spend the morning playing with the siblings at a nearby park.

cutest.little.joggers.ever!

Honestly, this was a good plan.  Until it was 90 degrees.  And there were NO nearby parks.  I guess I should have looked at a map/listened to the weather, eh?

Instead, I ran about 6 miles round trip.
I use the word "ran" lightly.

After asking a few people, we finally got directed to that little checkered bubble at the top:  a library!  It was WAAAAAY out of our way (obviously), but it was a fun adventure!

And a good reprieve from the heat!

 Ellery, the puppeteer....

An initially-busted-but-eventually-very-fun morning!

Finally, we trekked our way back to Homestead, just in time to pick Tanner up, head to lunch, and have the last hurrah......

FROYO!

And that was June 3rd - the official END of Tanner's Kindergarten year!

If you ask her, however, she'll still tell you she's still a Kindie until 1st grade starts (such a stickler for details, that one...) - and I don't have the heart to correct her.  The thought of having a kiddo who counts their school years in numbers seems so grown  up and responsible - that's not for me!  I'm still the mom of LITTLE ones, not BIG KIDS!

....that is, until August rolls around..... :)