Shane's Graduation!

Shane's official graduation ceremony was today! There was going to be a celebration at school and then a parent-sponsored pool party afterward. Thankfully, I heard about the celebration from Sid at the pool over the weekend. "You all coming?" he'd asked. Shane was supposed to mention it, but he hadn't. I hadn't thought to check his backpack with a week of school to go, either!

I was able to find coverage to leave midday and take Shane to the pool party (Carrie still won't do pools). I ended up leaving even earlier when Carrie said she couldn't/wouldn't leave the farm while Kitsune was sick.

I raced out and made it in time to catch the end of the celebration. I stood in the back while a slideshow of the year played out. Carrie had sent in photos and I heard Shane say, "That's my baby horse!" when he and Kitsune appeared on screen.

Shane sounded off every time he showed up!

After the slideshow, Dr. England gave a small speech. I saw Shane twisting his head all over the place searching the crowd. He didn't see me at first, so I moved to set up a better sight lane for him. He had the biggest smile! I was so happy I was able to make it!

The festivities wrapped up quickly after the slideshow and speech. Shane has officially graduated from 5th grade at Scottsville Elementary!

Shane and I took a celebration selfie under the balloons.

Mrs. Armstrong was helping families take pictures next to the school mascot. Shane gave him such a hug I had to help him stand up for our picture!

From there we checked out and went to the pool! We were maybe the 2nd or 3rd family to arrive.

The pool party was a local tradition. It had been put on hold for COVID, but everyone was ready to rekindle the fun this year! (Frankly, it's a brilliant advertisement for the pool. We're already members, but if we weren't I would've signed up right afterward!).

Shane was excited when there was one other kid. He was ecstatic when the rest of the class started to arrive.

The kids started off with an old game, but they used a name for it I hadn't heard. Basically, someone on the diving board had their back turned and called out answers to a question. When the answer that was true for you was called, you had to reach the other side of the pool without being tagged!

The only time Shane came to visit me was for some help with a pair of googles he found.

The rest of the time he was where the other kids were!

The lifeguards nixed chicken fights to the dismay of some.

There was lots of splashing among the boys and Shane offered to upend anyone and anywhere (I hope he's still not calling it a "gopher hole!")

During break, the was cake!

And ice cream, too!

A volleyball game broke out (Uh...boys vs girls isn't a smart idea here, boys).

Inevitably, the ball went over the fence (which I call a great opportunity for problem solving!). There was much talk about climbing, before someone just went around to the other side (Shane was trying to use sticks to work it up the fence from the other side!).

One of the parents called all the kids over for a group picture.

It took a while to get everyone in it, but it worked out well!

Aaaaand everyone went right back into the water afterward. The big dude (Gentry?) offered for Shane to tabletop/gopher hole him. Shane did it!

Unfortunately, we couldn't stay for the full two hours. I had to get back to work. Shane was sad when I collected him, but he was also in the beginning stages of an argument with some of the girls (Perfect timing!).

To assuage his feelings (from the girls and from leaving), I bought Shane a drumstick on the way out!

It was a great way to end the year! I dropped Shane off at home and then rushed back for my final class (..and some cold Chinese food. The math department bought some to send off our department chair and I missed the luncheon in favor of Shane's stuff).

The day was far from over, though. I went back to work and then picked up some meds for Kitsune while I was in town.

Then I dragged Shane to the library.

In his typical fashion, he insisted he didn't want to go, etc, etc. I told him I was surprised he'd turn down an opportunity to catch Pokemon in town when he's always requesting it, and that reframed the narrative enough for him to get in the car.  Free pizza for dinner kept his mouth to stuffed to complain after I took the phone away. 

Today was a perfect storm of events. There was graduation, the summer reading kickoff, and a PTO picnic! We were at the library, because I wanted Shane to sign up for the summer reading list. He started to socialize and decided to be happy.

Shane marched up to a pair of library staff members playing badminton and joined right in. I hopped in as well to even up the teams. We saw a rabbit with 1.5 ears and the family from International Table Top day while we played!

When the library shindig ended, we headed over to Scottsville Elementary. Shane was hesistant until I uttered the words "bounce house."

We bumped into some friends once we got there! Sarah was volunteering and had brought Lilly and Wyatt with her (Random - I taught the teenager, Michael, volunteering at the bouncy slide!).

Shane was a roaring and yelling in all his hyperactive, "look-at-me!" glory.

The line and wait at the slide was shorter than the obstacle course, so Shane and Wyatt spent most of their time there.

I told Shane he *had* to eat a 2nd slice of pizza for the night if he wanted any of the treats (I'm sooo terrible like that). Shane was like, "Ew! It's Dominio's!" ("Knock it off, kid") and when Sarah pulled out TWO slices (because they were small) I quickly took the 2nd slice for myself before he argued.

Shane spurned cookies (seriously!), hopped on a bike, and rode off.

I sat in the shade while Shane ran off who knew where. Eventually he ran back all full of smiles. "I've been scaring these older kids!"

Uh oh. 

The rest played out exactly as I've seen before. Shane was happy at first when he startled kids and he probably viewed it as "winning." Later, the kids were teasing him with "you can't scare us," "you can't catch us," and all the natural jeers that follow being chased and roared at for a while. Shane doesn't like this and as he gets more annoyed/upset the kids see the teasing works. Which leads to more of it and Shane roaring in someone's face.

I called Shane over at that point to break the rhythm and head home. He didn't want to go, but I told him I was exhausted after being on the go all day (and it was true!). I think we got home around 7 or 7:30 PM.

After all those events, it's hard to believe Shane still has one day of school left! The activities were a great way to provide closure and make the end of the year epic. There were rough spots, but I hope Shane looks back fondly overall on his time at SES as he moves on to middle school next year!