Happy Graduation!

School's out for the summer! The school year runs a little longer here, but we've finally made it to summer. Wyatt officially graduated from preschool! I can't believe my little baby boy is growing up. He will be starting Kindergarten next year and riding the bus. oh boy!

Earlier this week, as a special treat, his school brought in a company called "Zoo 2 U", which is a traveling petting zoo that brings in all sorts of cool animals for the kids to admire, pet and hold. They had the usual parrots, iguanas, snakes and turtles, along with a few unique ones like an Angora Rabbit that was so fluffy and furry, you could barely tell where his face was and also a turquoise Panther Chameleon (or "Canadian", as some people like to call them). Wyatt touched every single creature and even held the Boa Constrictor around his neck! He's usually quite timid about new things so I was really proud of him for going for it.

It was a little bittersweet taking him to school on the last day. Hadley loves taking Wyatt in to school and the second the classroom door opens, she races inside, while Wyatt and I are still hanging up his backpack and changing shoes. She yells "I go to school too, Mommy!!" and wanders from one station to the next. I usually have to physically pick her up when it's time to leave, despite her kicking and protests. On the last day, we shuffled in with our presents for the teacher and staff and loaded them up on their desks. Hadley and I left for a while, but came back later to attend the little graduation ceremony being held at the end of the school day. 

Hadley has to be just like her brother. After the ceremony, she put on his hat and went and sat on his carpet square!

I was weepy throughout the entire ceremony. The kids performed a song "The Itchy Monkey Dance" and sang their final Goodbye song. Then they showed a slide show of all the photos of the kids throughout the year, set to some tearjerker Rascal Flatts song. What is about their music that evokes such emotion? I know I'm not the only mom who had tears in her eyes. My emotions just got the better of me. I had Hadley on my lap, the video camera in one hand and my camera (of course) snapping away in the other. I didn't have a spare hand to even wipe my eyes!  Each kid received a special book, a "diploma" and a nice handmade card with pictures of them in it. The moms all received a really nice photo book of pictures of their child. It's really sweet. I've already looked at it many times. They also gave us a CD of all the photos of our child throughout the year so we'd have them digitally. For a picture nut like me, is there any better gift!? You could tell they put a lot of thought into making the gifts personal and special and I was so touched. Here are a few highlights from the year...

We feel so blessed that we found such a special preschool for Wyatt. The teacher and staff are just awesome - so loving and patient with the kids and also really fun! We gave them each a pot of flowers and a card letting them know how much we appreciate them. We've decided to keep Wyatt at the same school next year so at least we know we'll get to see them in the halls to say hello. One major milestone accomplished. Kindergarten, here we come!