The Graduate

Well, this was surely the LONGEST school year ever, thanks to our extra spring break, err, strike, but it is finally over! What an amazing year it was for Alek and so special for us to watch how much he progressed.
Our worries and concerns for his kindergarten year were unwarranted. He did great and truly surprised us both.
Alek loved going to school each day and that was due to two wonderful teachers at LL and GS.
They embodied what kindergarten is all about, having fun while learning and fostering a love of learning and school.
It is amazing to see how well he writes and reads now. I just love having him read me stories at night now. We received his kid writing journal from the year and it was just wild to see the few words from September to mini stories in May. Such little sponges they are!

He had his graduation ceremony at LL on June 17th. Pop, Granny, LaLa, Krissy, and Megs were able to join us and he was so excited to see his fan club! The tears welled up in my eyes as Pomp and Circumstance began to play and these sweet little angels paraded in wearing their white caps and gowns. SO hard to believe he started at LL when he was 15 months old!
It was a sweet ceremony and I tried very hard not to completely break down. My sweet baby is growing too fast, I just feel like I will blink and he will be graduating high school!
The ceremony was followed up with a pizza lunch and desserts. It was a great time. Maks was cracking us up as usual, shoveling in the desserts, using the coat racks like monkey bars. As we were all walking to our cars, Maks was headed to the playground with his class and we heard him tell his teacher, "hey, there are my people". He is a piece of work!!

Afterwards, Kevin, Megs and I headed to Alek's other school for the letter parade which is the kindergarten's rite of passage. Alek was assigned the letter E and we had to come up with a sentence and "costume" to match. So, it went like this: Eddie the elephant was eating enormous eggs with an excellent Eagle while an educate eel evaluated his eight eggplants.
I have to say, I was very proud of Alek and I and our props. This was a big deal for a non creative mom like myself!
Half the school came to watch (as the other half went to the morning kindergarten's class). The kids all did so well and then we got an extra treat of a couple songs at the end. It was so cute! I loved it and it was really neat to see the 6th graders cheering on the little ones.
What a great morning it was for us. We were so proud of Alek!!

That evening Alek and I headed over to see "Maks favorite cousin" Kait graduate high school!
Alek borrowed his cap and gown, so he could get some pics with Kait in hers. They turned out great, very extra special they shared this graduation day!
Alek went to the ceremony with me, what a beautiful night. So happy and proud of Kait and we know she will do so well as she continues her education at PSU!!

Congrats to our special grads!! What a great day it was!
Now, bring on the summer fun......

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