"School's Out For Summer!"

I've been singing that Alice Cooper tune to J, because it's stuck in my head.  It's driving him crazy, but I thought it was the perfect title for this blog post.  Gabe had his last day of pre-school yesterday!  Of course, I photo-chronicled it all...

This was his first day...

And here's his last!

last day with my backpack!

last drop off!

last walk into school

going into school for the last time...

last walk out to the pick-up line

here comes the graduate!

last stroller ride home (with a little brother who's picking his nose)

When we got home and looked inside his backpack for the last time, I saw the most adorable Father's Day card ever.  And when I read it, I got all teary.  Get your Kleenex out.

seriously?

I was going to wait to post the card until after Father's Day (so that J would be surprised), but Gabe couldn't wait to give it to J when he got home from work last night.  As he was giving J the card he said, "you need to go slow, Dad."  I guess he also told Momo that he made a card for his dad and that his dad needs to go slow.  Too funny!  Such a sweet card.

Miss Jill, Gabe's teacher, also surprised us with a book for Gabe as an end of the year gift.  I'm not sure why, but when I read her inscription, I got emotional.  I guess I'm just so happy that he's experiencing these wonderful milestone moments, and that this really is just the beginning of a life of learning.  (Sorry for the sap - perhaps I'm over-sharing)

so sweet!

And then there was his last picture of the year

how perfect!



I decided to celebrate Gabe's last day of school with a pizza and ice cream party.  I thought it'd be fun to head over to Middleton for pizza and a trip to Richardson's dairy farm where we could see the cows and eat some ice cream.  Of course, Gabe asked who was coming to the party.  When I told him that it was just me and Zach, he seemed less than thrilled.  But, his prayers were answered when Momo called and asked what we were up to for the afternoon.  With Momo on board, it was an official party!

First stop for the party was to McDonald's.  Gabe decided that he wasn't in the mood for pizza.  If you haven't been to the McDonald's in Middleton before, let me be the first to tell you that it is the BOMB!  I've never seen a fast food place like it.  It's so modern, so nicely furnished, and decorated with these subtle vegetable decorations.  Both Momo and I thought that they'd changed their menu and added farm fresh veggies and stuff, but unfortunately the only beautiful vegetables are the ones decorating their walls and lights. 

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this is the bar at McDonalds!

a table!!

more tables

the beautiful drum lights

images of vegetables inside the drum lights

another shot of the bar

my leather chair - I could live there, people!  Notice the hardwood floors??

As we were eating our dinner at the posh McDonald's, who should appear but a (kind of creepy) clown!  He came over to the tables with his dog, who was dressed as a fireman and did a ventriloquist skit.  Unfortunately, his jokes and conversation catered more to the adult crowd; but from the pictures, you can see that Gabe still got a kick out of it.  Zach, on the other hand, was leaning as far away from the clown as he could get before tipping out of his highchair.  And when the clown came over to him, he held on to Momo's arm for safety.  I really can't blame him.  Both Momo and I thought that he was pretty odd.  Oh well, he certainly added to our party atmosphere!

the clown and his fireman dog

here's the full view

close up

this shot made me laugh out loud

see how much fun the (creepy) clown was?

And here's Zach's reaction

leaning far away

holding onto Momo's arm

eating my balloon mouse

Gabe & his balloon elephant

Our next and final stop on our party journey was to Richardson's dairy farm.  We hadn't been there in over a year, and it was just as fun as ever.  Having recently been to the amazing Wilson Farm, the kids were running around looking for all of the animals; Richardson's just has cows, goats, and chickens.  But, they still had a good time mooing at the cows (Zach's moo sounded like mo mo, as in Momo), feeding the goat, and checking out the tractors and diggers. 

feeding the goat

pulling on the goat's ear -- we obviously asked him to stop; but it took a couple of times

I love the way that Gabe's hanging on the fence

love this shot!

And then it was ice cream time.  Growing up, my parents took us out for ice cream after a ballet or band recital, so I thought it'd be a fun tradition to continue with the boys.  They were pretty much all set after the clown and animals.  They hardly licked their cones and were more interested in the waterfalls and old fashioned water pump in the patio area.  Even Zach abandoned his cone to play in the water. 

ice cream!

and off to play in the water