Mom was here to watch Ella the first few days after the end of school, and Ella loved her Grammy-time.
They swam in Mom's pool, went to the Museum of Natural Science, had big fun at the library, went for a drive-in picnic, did some science experiments, had a movie night, and Mom even taught Ella how to use the sewing machine!
Ella's last day of the school year was Wednesday, June 4th - here she is, ready to go to school on her last day as a kindergartener!
The kindergarteners have this neat event the last morning of school where they all walk to a nearby park for the morning, and parents are invited to come. So we got to hang out in the classroom with them for a while, go on the walk and to the park. It was a lot of fun, Ella was so excited and had a great time playing with her friends, and I had a great time catching up with the other moms.
Finding roly-polys
With Mrs. Dooley
Getting her class shirt signed by her friends
Ella had a half-day so she was home by noon and spent the afternoon with Grammy. They swam and played the rest of the day, and we went out to dinner that night to celebrate.
How is it possible that Ella has already finished kindergarten and will be heading to first grade in a few short months??
Ella's Daisy Troop had an end-of-year picnic last Tuesday. They will take a break from meetings over the summer so it was a little celebration for ending the year and they released lady bugs into the gardens at a local park to mark the end of their Garden Journey.
Ella and Steve had bought some ladybugs for our garden a few weeks ago so Ella was the resident expert in her troop on the ladybugs, what they eat, and how to release them!
Fun time releasing the ladybugs
We had a picnic dinner and then a little ceremony where she earned several new patches
With her wonderful troop leaders, Miss Melanie and Miss Melissa!
Ella's kindergarten graduation was Thursday, May 29, and was one of the absolute cutest events she's had yet! They had been practicing for a few weeks and all of that practice paid off, the whole thing went so smoothly and was just adorable.
Taking her place on stage
Their first song
Getting her diploma
Shaking hands with the district superintendent - I love her expression!
And this song was SOOOO precious. The video doesn't do it justice but her expressions and gestures and singing was heart-melting.
Walking off the stage
We got to go back to the classroom to spend some extra time with Ella.
So cute with her diploma and graduation photo!!
So proud of our sweet kindergarten graduate!
Ella's teacher put together an adorable video with pictures from the class over the whole year, and showed it that morning in the classroom. It was really a wonderful year for her - she made great friends, learned so much, and has a great foundation for enjoying school that I hope will last for many years to come!
Cute classmates
With Mrs. Dooley - we were so very fortunate to have her for Ella's kindergarten teacher this year, we are really going to miss her!
Our friends just bought a beach house in Galveston. The Friday before Memorial Day was their closing date, and they invited us to come down and spend the first weekend with them. We had the crawfish boil on Saturday so we we headed down on Sunday and were so excited for the trip!
Sunday was sunny and beautiful, the perfect beach day
Ella and James slept in twin beds in the same bedroom and they were both so exhausted after a big day (plus Ella had been up way too late the night before) that they both fell right to sleep and actually managed to sleep through the night in the same room. We've done overnights at the beach with friends before and it never works out that the kids manage to fall asleep together and one or both end up in bed with the adults. So Ella was very excited for her 'first official sleepover'!
Going for a walk on Monday morning
Monday was overcast so we went fishing in the waterway in the back of the neighborhood instead of back to the beach. The waterway is beautiful with gorgeous houses and so peaceful.
She caught one!
We really had a wonderful trip - relaxing and so much fun! I'm also so grateful for our friendship with the Callaways, we always have such a great time with them.
