Last Day of Preschool!!

Gabriel's last day of preschool was a couple of weeks ago.  I was sad, but didn't get as upset as I thought I was going to.  Probably only because Joel will be returning for at least one more year there next year.  

We have loved every second of Gabriel's preschool experience.  Class sizes have been small, and he has been with many of the same kids all the way through.  The teachers know each kid inside and out.  He has grown SO much each year between his first and last day it's been amazing to see.  Of course, this year he really seemed to mature.  I was a little shocked to find out that around half of his classmates will be there next year.  I've been told that holding your kid back is the newest trend.  But we are forging bravely on ahead with kindergarten.  I feel that he's ready.  Right now he seems excited, but my mom told me he mentioned to her that he was worried about making new friends.  I think that fear will go away pretty quickly once he's there a few weeks.    

Joel and one of his teachers, Ms. Kelly.  His other main teacher, (and the one he immediately bonded with), was Ms. Monica.  She left to have a baby in April and missed the last six weeks.  She returned here and there to sub, but wasn't around for a picture the last day.  :(  

Even though he didn't start until mid-year, Joel loved every minute of school too and was getting along with all of his classmates really well.  I'm excited about his next year, because one of Joel's teachers will be the mom of the triplets that have been in Gabriel's classes since his first year, Ms. Lyndsey.  

In the meantime, we have a fun summer already in full swing.  We've been going to the park every Tuesday morning, something we've never done consistently before.  Both boys started their swim lessons Monday.  They are taking separate classes but at the same end of the pool at the same time.  I wasn't sure how it would work, since I can only watch each boy some of the time.  But the only time it was a problem was at the end of class when the teachers want to tell the parents what needs to be worked on, what they did well, etc..  Hopefully they'll be understanding and know I can't be two places at once!  I was nervous about a Waterbaby class for Joel without me in the water, but he did really well, even though his other classmate SCREAMED the entire 30 minutes of class.  In fact, Joel was so laid back in the water that he doesn't feel he needs to exert the extra energy to kick.  He was content to just let the instructor carry him around the whole time.  We'll be working on that.  

Gabriel's in the middle of his first t-ball season, and seems to be enjoying it more than he did soccer.  We've even been getting him to practice 2 or 3 times a week.  We have great coaches, who both have boys on the team.  The pic below was taken of his first swing in his very first ever game.  And we're about to come up on our year anniversary of weekly drum lessons.  The boy is getting pretty good.  (At least his very biased mother thinks so.)  AND we've signed him up for two camps this summer:  Zoo camp starts next week, and Music and Art Camp at his old school will be in July.

These two are going to have such a fun summer!