End of School Year Events

There have been a LOT of end-of-year events going on in Julia's life lately, and no doubt her sentimentally is getting an extra charge.  Last week was the end of school year picnic, which doesn't literally happen at the end of the school year, but a few weeks before:

The day after the concert were the final band and chorus concerts of the year, which, for a 5th grader, means the last time working under the directorship of their beloved music and band teacher.  Who other than an elementary music teacher is going to have kids on stage letting loose with body movements like these?:

Over the weekend, both girls went to the end-of-year pool and pizza party for the Y swim team.  Julia came home especially sentimental, telling me within ten minutes of the party ending, "I miss the Y!"  I'm used to this end-of-season melancholy nostalgia when mid-August hits, as Julia only swims with the Suburban Swim League in the summer, so she has a long wait between seasons.  However, she is now equally bereft now that the Y season has ended, despite the fact that she will be right back there in less than 3 months.

Today was the 5th grade "Appreciation Ceremony," during which 5th graders reflected on all they had learned this year and then individually thanked a particular teacher whose teaching had an impact on them over the past 6 years.  Here's Julia, bowing her head in order to reach the mike, which was set at the height of the more middle-sized, less statuesque 5th graders' height:

Julia thanked her beloved 1st grade teacher, who remains her very favorite of any she's had while in elementary school.

After the Appreciation Ceremony, the 5th graders were treated to a day outside, playing games, having relay races, and enjoying a big barbeque in their honor.  They even got to have a big sheet cake with a picture of their entire 5th grade student body printed on it:

I guess all the build-up of sentiment gave Julia an extra big appetite.  I asked her about what she had ordered at the barbeque.  Turns out she opted for not one, but TWO cheeseburgers.

ME: Did you eat both cheeseburgers for lunch?
JULIA: Yeah.
ME: And you had cake?
JULIA: Yeah.
ME: Did you eat anything else?
JULIA: I had two bags of chips (bursting into sheepish laughter.)  I was still HUNGRY!


Eat up, Jules, because we've still got a few more sentimental ceremonies to go before the school year ends!