Fishing, Berries, Gifts, Hiking, Field Day *pics*

Dear Diary,

In my last entry I left off where we had just wrapped up our weekend camping excursion and set out to find a good fishing experience before heading home.  We ended up here…

We checked in and Reagan got our special bait ready for trout fishing.

Waiting patiently….

He has one!

We traded places and I took the pole and he worked the net….

Dinner! Yum!

My net man!

Love this next one!

We arrived a bit before three and this place closed at 4.  As soon as we started fishing they began "last call" for cleaning announcements.  We brought them our fish by 3:30.  We fished a bit longer and then called it a day.

2.2 pounds of delicious!  It was nice that they cleaned the fish and bagged them on ice.

We made it home for the weekend before 5, unpacked from camping, started cooking dinner and we made a quick harvest in our strawberry bed….

This was a good first pick for us!

I cleaned and cut them up.  Reagan sprinkled some sugar on them and stirred them up….

We also were able to pick rhubarb that evening.  Looks like the makings for a strawberry rhubarb pie!

After dinner Reagan enjoyed strawberries and whipped cream!

As if that wasn’t enough excitement for one evening I surprised Reagan with a pirate adventure come bathtime!

Monday was a fairly normal school / work day for us.  That evening I needed to finish up the end of the year teacher gifts.  I had all I needed, along with an idea.  I thought it would go quickly but ended up taking longer than expected.  I was up late that night…. after 11…. maybe midnight.  They turned out pretty cute though.

A handmade card with a hand written note specific to each of the 14 teachers / staff that Kindergarten acknowledged.  I put the Target giftcards along with chocolates into a clear bag with a topper that coordinated with the card.

I was able to use a Teacher Treats stamp that I’ve had but had not yet used before….

There are 12 females and then I made a couple slightly more masculine for the two male gym teachers.

Here is the Teacher Treats stamp I mentioned….

I went into the office a bit early to get some things done and then by 8:30 we were on a bus for Reagan’s end of the year field trip!

Daddy came along, too!

The field trip was to a nature preserve called Hawk Mountain…. hence the big hawk statue behind Reagan and one of his classmates….
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I think this next one is cute of Reagan and his buddy!

The Head of Lower School came along for the day  and one of Reagan’s Kindergarten teachers is with her.  I’m glad to have both as co-workers!

All year long the kindergartners have partnered with a 5th grade buddy.  5th grade came along on this field trip as well.  The big group getting an overview / instructions about the hike….

This is Reagan’s 5th grade buddy.  He’s a little guy.  His mom is a teacher and alumni at our school, too.  He’s done a nice job with Reagan all year.

Off on the hike!

The first overlook we came to….

Reagan’s buddy did an awesome job of staying close to him the entire hike and giving him his undivided attention whenever Reagan wanted.  Very kind of him and Reagan really enjoyed it.

He even let Reagan hold his hand.  Reagan seemed to reach for Gabe’s hand often. 

Another very pretty overlook….

The above overlook was in a very rocky area.  I’m pleased to say that we had no injuries.

It was fairly steep…. especially for lots of 6ish year olds….

Reagan and his buddy at the overlook….

Keith’s mom lives just 5 miles or so from where we were hiking.  We invited her to join us, too.

Reagan and Gabe found walking sticks…

There are just 7 kindergarten now first grade! boys.  Somehow I rounded them all up for a group picture.  The boy in the red pants is moving to NJ this summer so he is a non return.  We have two new boys enrolled for 1st grade in the fall though.  So, we are up to 8!  At this point we are still 21 girls.  One is moving but we have a new enrollee as well.  Currently we are at one class of 14 and another of 15 for next year.  We may have changes over the summer though.

We were able to get a picture of the four of us….

Going back down the mountain….

Grandma and Reagan!  I surprised Reagan with an eagle puppet from the gift shop.

The four teachers wrote really sweet paragraphs about each child.  They read what the wrote and then gave each child a special title based on their strengths.  Reagan’s was DILLIGENT DOER and they talked about his focus, and his pride in his work, his detail and elaborate stories.  What they read was on a laminated card that the kids got to keep.  They also got a little ribbon with thier title printed on it.  It was a very thoughtful and sweet ceremony.  I imagine they put a lot of time into it.  Each child came up to accept their award and recieve their applause.  It was nice.

The four teachers passing out the awards…

A bug joined Reagan during the ceremony….

Reagan getting his award.  All four teachers gave each child big hugs when the child came up for his/her award.
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Proud boy!

Oh my!   The excitement is never ending!  The next few pictures took place at school.  I’ve talked about our school before.  We are PS – 12 grade all under one roof.  There is a courtyard centrally located in our school and completely surrounded by school.  Here’s a picture….  There is school behind me where I’m standing and taking this, too.

For years and years a mother duck has returned to the courtyard (by flying in) to lay her eggs and hatch her ducklings.  In recent years we’ve had a second mother do the same thing a bit later in the season.  For many years we’ve led a mother and her ducklings out of the courtyard in April / May.  Last year we had another just as school finished and this year…. same thing.  We have to watch for them.  They have to be led out of the courtyard and to water within something like 48 hours of hatching.  The school forms a corridor and one grade is chosen to slowly and gently encourage the ducks to walk through the corridor of students, faculty and staff to a nearby creek.  Here they are coming into the school from the courtyard….  Reagan is sitting to the left in front of the lady with the white sweater…..

Here they come!

SO incredibly sweet!

The above happened around 9am yesterday.  By 10 Kindergarten headed out to the ball fields for their first official Field Day!

And important Field Day rule is to STAY HYDRATED!

The first event was soccer and then they moved to relays.   Here is a silly pic of Reagan waiting during the relays…

On the move….

Balancing a tennis ball on a racket relay….

Next up…. kick ball!

Reagan’s class wore the pennies….

Reagan up to kick!

The Head and Assistant Head of Lower School in the Gator…. 

A cute Reagan on the pitcher’s mound!

The "good game" hand tag at the end….

Field Day shirts were available for just $5.  I ordered one for both Reagan and Keith….  My sweet guys!

Reagan and one of his favorite boys in class….

parachute fun!

They served a nice Field Day lunch following all the outdoor fun. 

The kids thought the cotton candy for dessert was a huge treat!

And THAT catches me up with pictures here!

We’re expecting the fringes of a tropical storm the next couple of days here.  Towards the shore the storm will be harsher.  I’ve pretty much made up my mind that I’m not driving to the shore tonight because of it.  I think I’ll let the storm play out for a day or so and I’ll continue to watch the forecast.  Maybe I’ll head that way later in the weekend.  I’m off tomorrow so the plan is to lay low at home and catch up on some scrapbooking.  We all know that I have plenty of new pictures to get onto pages after all our recent fun.    I hate to miss shore time but it doesn’t make sense to make a long drive just to be stuck inside the camper during a storm.    The scrap time will be good.  I have some paper crafting projects to do to get ready for Reagan’s birthday party the following weekend, too.

Reagan is invited to a pool birthday party this evening. Before I decided to stay home from the shore due to the storm I had planned to leave from the party to head to the shore.  Now  I’m just  hoping the start of the storm holds off until after our little friend gets his party in.  We’ll see….  this storm is making it hard to stick to the plans! 

Happy Thursday!

 

  

 

 

 

 

 
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