Lagoon

Lagoon is one of our very favorite back to school traditions. This year we had a bit of trouble scheduling the date and ended up having to go on a day that David couldn't come AND the park closed at 4pm. Neither were ideal. However, Jenna, Aunt Amy, and I were all able to come and we made the best of every minute there!  

 

Our very first ride was Primordial - the brand new Lagoon ride. It was really fun, but a little violent in my opinion. Similar to Rise of the Resistance in Disneyland (yes, apparently we are now the people that compare Lagoon rides to Disney rides) but with an interactive element. I didn't love the shooting at people part - but the kids enjoyed the ride and really... good for Lagoon for putting so much into improving their park/future. This was our first ride because we knew the lines would be SO long and they were - almost 3 hours in the middle of the day. We were able to hit it one more time before we left and felt pretty satisfied. 

The kids came prepped with money for candy and souveniers. It was really busy and we didn't go on as many big rides throughout the day, but we went on a ton of little rides and I think the kids were happy with their day. All in all it was a successful and memorable day at Lagoon together! (Note: Jenna might make us go on a not-school day next year in hopes that it won't be so busy, but I'm hesitant. I'm just worried that it wont' be close enough to be an end-of-school celebration, it will be more money AND I'm unsure if the game workers will be as generous when handing out "prize" gifts for the kids and they really depend on that. But it was busy - so maybe we will give Jennas plan a shot next year.)

I found some old pictures of my family at Lagoon and wanted to add them in here. I've always loved Lagoon and remember camping in the little sites next to the park with my extended Walker family (grandma & grandpa and cousins). Once when I was little I won a little turtle stuffed animal and kept it for YEARS. And seriously, look at cute little Shantel in that Lagoon boat. I'm darling.  

End of School Celebrations

It's that time again! The time when the school year is winding down and SUMMER is just around the corner. We get to celebrate a job well done; a year full of learning; a successful step in our educational journey. We have a few end-of-school traditions and even though they were slightly adjusted because of sickness and scheduled surgeries we still ended the school year with a bang. (It almost killed me to keep with our regular school routine even after the public school kids were out of school, but it just made sense to keep our routine up until the boys surgery, and then to maintain it after so that we would have a routine to stick to while they recovered instead of just being sad that they couldn't go to the pool.)

Here are the end of school pictures:

Austin, age 7.5, end of 1st grade

Lydia, age 10, end of 4th grade

Caleb, age 5, end of preschool

First up is Caleb's Preschool Graduation. He was in Miss. Jessalyn's neighborhood preschool and it was a great fit for him, while being close enough for me (and giving me some good homeschooling time with the other two). He also had an Upstart preschool graduation and David was able to take the morning off to come with us.We loved celebrating him together. 

End-of-Year Readathon

We started the day by going to the Library, then David took the rest of the day off of work and we came home and read books to our hearts content. It was a great afternoon. 

End of School Cones

Once, Lydia read about this tradition from the German culture and we have now adopted it. We choose to do these "school cones" at the end of school and they are filled with surprises and things for the summer (instead of preparing for school). 

Last Day of School Ice Cream Party 

Our neighbors, the Rossels, throw an ice cream party for the school kids as they walk home from the bus on the last day of school and it's one of my favorite traditions. 

And last but not least (and actually, the first end of school celebration chronologically this year)

LAGOON DAY! 

David and I took the four oldest, while Jenna watched the four youngest, and had the greatest day. We were at the park as it opened and we closed it out that night. The kids had been saving their money and they spent it all! Candy, giant stuffed animals, necklaces, slurpees, etc.. it was the best day of these kids lives. They were at such fun ages for the rides and we really just had a great time celebrating the end of the school year doing something that they have been looking forward to since the day after we went last year. 

Summer, here we come!