Our Last Week Together or The Last Week of School

Today was the last day of school for Rachel and Aaron. I couldn't help but smile from ear to ear as I dropped them off this morning. There was just extra excitement in the air and I'm always a little emotional on the first and last days of school.

Winding up this year marked a special milestone. This was my last week having Hannah at home as a preschooler. Our final moments with just the two of us. Well, not forever, but on a regular basis. I decided we would make the most of it.

Tuesday I gave her the option of going to the zoo, the aquarium or the museum. She chose the museum. We had been there before as a family, but it was different with just the two of us.

This display teaches how a tornado is formed. The mini tornado can been seen in the background. My kids think it is hilarious to pretend to run away while we snap pictures.

Making giant bubbles is lots of fun!

Hannah is pretending that the T-Rex is chasing her. I didn't get a very good picture. Probably because I was laughing so hard at her pretending to run away.

She was really checking out the fossils in this display. The look on her face would be what we call "the PK stare."

Wednesday was her last official day of preschool and the parents were invited to join the class for a banana split party.

Hannah is looking at books with her friends while the adults got the party set up.

A perfect banana split complete with a cherry on top.

All the kids got a chance to sign Dante's cast. He fell and broke his arm at his brother's birthday party. He was so sweet. He watched very carefully as each child wrote his or her name.

As we were walking to the car, I asked her how she felt about her last day of preschool. She said she was happy and sad at the same time. I explained what the phrase "bitter sweet" means and told her it was a happy and sad day. In July I am going to email all the parents from her class and see if they want to do a play date at a local park.

Thursday Hannah and I went strawberry picking. We filled four whole buckets and probably could have kept on going. Last year we bought strawberries from a local farmer, but it was much more fun picking our own.

Last night I made the first batch of jam. This year I bought some smaller 4 ounce jars to use as gifts. One bucket of strawberries was enough to fill 12 - 4 ounce jars and one 8 ounce jar. I'm going to use 2 buckets to make jam and we are eating the fourth bucket. Now that we have done it twice, it can be considered a tradition.

Weather permitting, I am going to take all three kids picking again on Wednesday. I think Rachel and Aaron will really enjoy it. Plus, we want to freeze some in small containers to throw in smoothies, oatmeal, etc.

The kids got to take a jar to each of their teachers and some of the support staff.

Their teachers also got a gift card to Starbucks in case you were thinking I got off too easy.

Last year my friend Kari and I surprised the kids and took them out for ice cream after school. I decided that was a great tradition so we all went out for ice cream after school today and then added going to see a movie. I hope that part becomes a tradition, too.