Summer, Summer, Summertime...SUMMERTIME!

Did not realize it has been just over a month since my last blog! Since last checking in we had Thales Academy Field Day, one final First Grade Field Trip, A/R parties, End of School parties that included bowling and Dan the Animal Man, Grace has been to see HSM2 on stage with her friend Caroline and Camden spent a week at Camp Willowrun at Lake Gaston. I have pictures galore to share from most, if not all of these activities too!!

Let's start with Field Day...it was held at Beaver Dam on Falls Lake here in Raleigh and it was a day chock full of activities. The morning was spent with the whole school divided up into groups and learning from the Park Rangers about animals that can be found in the park and lake areas, learning Woodsman Safety and having a scavenger hunt. After lunch each grade level participated in Field Day Games that included an obstacle course, sponge toss, pizza box race and more... The kids had a blast, although it was extremely HOT the day went beautifully and ended with a Tug o War of Teachers vs. Parents and the teachers won.

Grace's class took one more field trip to Lake Crabtree the week before school got out. While there the kids enjoyed a picnic lunch, playing on the playground and then learning about the animals of Lake Crabtree from one of the Park Rangers. She showed the kids a cornsnake and had several other animals on display that had been "stuffed". It turned out to be one of the HOTTEST days for the first part of June but thankfully we had a lot of shade to keep us covered.

Both Camden and Grace met their A/R goals for the last nine weeks and got to enjoy the A//R parties the teachers had planned out. One of them had a Luau theme party and one had a ice cream party. Camden also received class awards on this day and he brought home quite a few from the "Babe Ruth Award' b/c of his love for baseball to several for Music and Character Club. Grace got a "Lifesaver" award from her class and a reading award and got one of the 3 Spectacular Spanish Awards from Spanish class. Both of them did so good this year and we are so proud of their accomplishments and can't wait to see what this next year holds in store for them. Camden even finished the year with a Straight A average in all subjects!!

For the end of year parties Camden' class went bowling and Grace's class had fun with water games. Before all of that started though the whole school got to enjoy a presentation by Dan the Animal Man. He brought a few of his animals for the kids to enjoy, there was the porcupine, the lemur, the owl and the python. The kids had a blast!! He promised that next time he would bring his alligator for the kids to see.

The last day of school also included Grace spending the night with her friend Caroline and going to see the stage musical of HSM2 here in Raleigh. The girls had the BEST time!! They got to sit on the front row and during intermission Caroline's mom bought them a poster and they got the cast signatures on them after the show. During the finale the cast throws out beach balls into the crowd and both Grace and Caroline were able to get one. They had such a great time and a great end to first grade.

Camden spent last week at Camp Willowrun up at Lake Gaston. This was his second year going and I think he had an even better time this year. He knew a couple of the kids in his boxcar from VBS at Enterprise where last year he did not know anyone in his bunk. He was SOOOOOO ready for us to leave him when we went to drop him off. This year he signed up for swimming, fishing and low ropes. Grace will get to go next year, the same week as Camden. It will be interesting to see how that goes.

Now that both kids are home for a few days they have gotten the typical summer colds. Thankfully they seem to be on the mend and should be raring to go when school starts back on July 20th!!