School's Out!

I started this blog back in August of last year with the intent of recapping some of the events in our lives, so that our family and friends would have an idea of what was going on. My first post covered Karsyn’s first day of kindergarten, and was a bittersweet day for Sonya and I. Our “baby” was starting school. [Checkout this photo].

Well, the first year of Karsyn’s education wrapped up on Friday with the last day of school. I sat down to write something about the day, but I found myself stunned by the fact that ten months had flown by so quickly. I just wrote that story about Karsyn’s first day of school for crying out loud! It’s really incredible how time snaps past you.

For Karsyn, Friday was a blast. She and all of her classmates were treated to the end of year kindergarten carnival. It was an event that was co-organized by Sonya. My dad, Sonya’s dad, and I all chipped in by volunteering at the event. Grandpa Karl ran the obstacle course, while my dad and were appointed ice creamer scoopers at the ice cream sundae station.


Why such a small scoop buddy!"
Yes, that’s right, the ice cream sundae station. Last day of school, let’s juice the five year olds up on as much sugar as we can get into them, then send them on their merry way! Camp counselors beware!

I must admit that it was a very well organized event. Sonya did a great job of planning and getting a ton of parents to chip in and volunteer their time. Karsyn’s school is great for parent participation and this event was no exception.

After a couple of hours of crafts, games, and sugar, all the kids returned to their respective classrooms for a final few minutes with their teachers. Karsyn’s teacher, Mrs. Redke, packaged all of the kids work for the kids to bring home and put together “memory books” for each student. These books were filled with much of the work the kids completed during the school year, and were capped with a series of photos from the school year.


Karsyn & Liam
As all the kids lined up one last time to exist the kindergarten classroom to their waiting parents, several of the moms (including Sonya) who had worked during the carnival were in the classroom as everybody lined up to start summer vacation. The kids sang their “Goodbye” song one last time, and all hell broke loose.

Specifically, all the moms in the room started bawling like, well, like five year-old girls. I got a big kick out of it, but I realize that it was certainly a sentimental moment for them. Karsyn’s friend Liam is the youngest of four kids in his family, and his mom Jamie had a tough time dealing with the end of kindergarten.

Sonya wasn’t much better, which means I need to have the video camera ready on Ryan’s last day of kindergarten! She’ll be bawling her eyes out. And I will tease her about it, because, well, that’s what five year-old boys do!


Karsyn & Mrs. Redke