Closing Festivities

Wow! The past couple of weeks have been busy. Last week was all about finishing up school with the boys, and although, there were times when both Elliot and I thought it would never happen, we finished . . . phew! Then we spent the weekend getting ready to host one of the coaches for our British Challenger Soccer Camp that is being held this week in Hampton and the Kingston Peninsula. The coaches arrived Sunday night, and since then, it has been non-stop shenanigans. Our days have been filled with soccer, swimming, and eating; nothing to complain about really, but it sure has been tiring. Then to top it all off, we had early morning dentist appointments and an ultrasound appointment at the beginning of the week. What was I thinking? Anyhoo, all of the cooking, the cleaning, the playing, and the running around that the past couple of weeks have entailed, has left this mama pooped. After the boys and I dropped Zoe off at her soccer camp this morning, we returned home and plopped our lifeless, exhausted bodies on the couch. It was during our third episode of SpongeBob (eeek! I must be tired), that I realised I did not post any pictures from our school-end festivities this year (and I know you are dying to see them). 

First, though, here is a picture of some of the Kingston kids welcoming our coaches on Sunday night. This year we have three coaches joining us. Two are from Liverpool and one is from Manchester. I have to say that they are all really great guys, and my kids are having a blast hanging out with them this week!

Now for our closing festivities!

We started the day at Hampton High School because Baby Girl needed to pick up her home report and her course schedule for the upcoming school year. Unfortunately, the computer messed up and had placed her in ALL the wrong classes. An hour and a half later, she emerged triumphantly from the school with most of the courses she wanted. Afterwards, some of her friends came over to our house for the afternoon to swim, to eat junk food, and giggle. I think it was a pretty good way to kick off the summer. When the sun went down and Baby Girl's friends had gone home, we started up our annual school work bonfire. The boys look forward to this event all year long, and were eager to toss all their worksheets into the roaring flames. As an entire year's worth of work went up in smoke, we dined on roasted marshmallows and chips. Finally, we wrapped up the evening with our presentation of awards. This year, Zoe received an award for maintaining an A+ average all year long, Elliot received the reading award for making huge improvements in his reading, and Avery received the writing award for being able to write a paragraph, complete with topic sentence, concluding sentence and three supporting sentences, all on his own. I am so proud of my kids for how hard they worked this year, and look forward to seeing all the wonderful things they accomplish next year.

^^Sorting out what papers should be saved and what papers can be burned. ^^ If you want to learn more about our easy, cheesy filing system for school mementos, check out this post.

^^The awards (all made from templates found on Microsoft Word!)

^^Each of their awards were accompanied by a gift card from Indigo^^

^^The moment he has been waiting for all year long.^^

^^Burn, baby, burn!^^

^^Our fancy, schmancy award ceremony. This is how we roll in the sticks: no shirt, pyjamas pants, and rain boots. Oh, and you can't ignore the pile of debris we are standing in front of. We are so high class! ^^

^^And yes, Zoe was included, but ya' know how teenagers feel about being photographed participating in embarrassing family traditions. ^^

^^What I waited for all year long . . . mmmmmmm!^^

And that is how we closed the school year here at Shenanigans Inc. We had a great school year, but gosh darn it, I am so happy to see it come to an end. Hip, hip, hooray for summer vacation!