And so ends another year...

The end of this school year hold some significance. At this point Trace has been at this school as long as he has been at any other school. Sometime before next Christmas we'll be able to say he has been here the longest of all! No small thing when you are ten and already been in four schools because your parents tend to move a bit too much!

Needless to say, the end of the year came on Wednesday. I had two very excited boys get onto the bus in the morning and when I got to the school that afternoon I found two sort of melancholy boys instead. No matter how badly you want school to be out, it is still really hard to say goodbye and know you're starting all over again in the fall. By the time we were home they were back to being happy though.

The boy's school has a couple of last day traditions that I made sure I was there to see. Because our fourth graders go to the middle school next year they get a big send off. About five minutes before the end of the day they announce over the intercom to get ready to go then they do a count down and yell GO! All the fourth graders run around the entire building high-fiving all the other grade levels who are lining the sidewalks. Some of the staff (including the principal) join in for the run. It is pretty cool to watch. The other fun tradition is that ALL the staff lines the entrance and waves at the buses and cars as they leave. Then the buses and cars all start honking their horns and it really creates an atmosphere of excitement for everyone! A great send off to summer...
Trace getting last minute info from his teacher (his back is to the camera with the black backpack)

Trace's run to fifth grade! Passing Caden's class,

Caden's final farewell to his teacher who is retiring this year.

The final goodbye from the staff.

That's Trace and Caden's bus leaving the parking lot. They weren't on it though but instead opted to wave everyone off too.