Last day of Preschool...!

And it's a wrap...yep, today was E's last day of Preschool/Day Care. Hard to believe...She went to this school for almost 3 years.  She was just 2 years and 3 months old when she first started there.  We've both loved the school and made some great friends there.  Definitely the end of an era for us...Here are a few pics with some of her teachers.

 

With Mercedes, who was her very first teacher there

With Kimberly who is always perky and energetic at 8am :)



With Jen who helped get E ready for Kindergarten!
 

Street fair

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 Yesterday afternoon we went to a little street fair that was happening nearby.  We went with friends of our's from E's Day Care, and bumped into lots of other families from Day Care, so that was fun. 

E got to do a little fishing...

 

 and play some street hockey...

I feel like I should throw a party or something

Oh, do I feel like celebrating...Something monumental happened today...

I made my LAST Day Care payment!!!

Maybe this isn't real appropriate to talk about on a public blog, but I'm going to anyway.  Because I know others out there have felt the same way.  Here's the thing.  The cost of Day Care was KILLING me.  Every month for the past 4 + years, it killed me.   As a single parent, it was really a struggle.  And I was in the position of making too much $ to qualify for any assistance, but not enough to not struggle every month with the tuition cost.  Don't get me wrong.  I love where E has gone to Day Care.  I am grateful that we have had a place where I can leave her every day knowing she's safe, happy and learning.  The teachers are great, and I know they don't get paid as much as they should.   But man...none of that makes it easier to afford the astronomical tuition cost.  And the place E goes is not even as expensive as some others around.  It's just crazy.  I wish with all the campaign rhetoric going on, someone would address this issue.  I haven't heard either of the presidential candididates talk about this-our country needs affordable quality Child Care.  Don't get me started on this!!

In related news, I know the name of E's assigned Kindergarten teacher.  When I told E, she said, "Oh, she's a bad teacher!  She said no seconds on Goldfish!"  Apparently Miss E remembers the teacher from Orientation.  Lol! 

So next Wednesday 8/22 will be E's last day at Day Care, then the next day, we jump on an airplane to go to San Diego!  Can't wait!

The weekend in pictures, and video!

Our weekend was good here.  We had a little pool time (yay, it finally stopped raining!), and on Saturday afternoon, E's Day Care had a 40th birthday party/fundraiser. 

Enjoying a little ice cream on a hot afternoon :)

And finally, E loves "making movies" from my phone, so here is a little sample...:)

My little firefighter

Yesterday, Elizabeth's preschool class visited a nearby fire station.  E thought it was  very cool that each of the kids got their own hats...:) Please excuse the cheesy grin, I asked her to smile and this is what I got...

E's teacher just emailed a couple of pics, thought I'd share them :)

Saturday

Such a fun day today!  This morning we had a playdate/picnic at the park with some of E's school friends.  It was a gorgous day, sunny in the mid 70's... :)

 This afternoon, E had her last swimming lesson for this session.  My awesome sister bought her these lessons for Christmas.  Thank you, Aunt Betsy! 

 My hometown has a Fair every year which I always remember going to as a kid.  It's been a lot of fun to share it with my daughter last year, and now this year.  Tonight, we met up with our buddies Misty and Paden and had the best time!  Turns out my girl loves roller coasters, who knew?! 

Bungy jumping!

E is all about jumping, she LOVED this!

It has been a long, busy, fun day.  E is passed out in bed, and that's where I'm headed now, too...:)

Jump Start Graduation

Jump Start is an early literacy program run by college students who have been coming to Elizabeth's Day care twice a week all year.  They have done many cool activities with the kids to help get them ready for school.  Last Wednesday was their last day, and so they had a graduation for the kids.  It was a little emotional for me because it felt like the beginning of the end of Elizabeth's preschool life.  She will be at her day care until the end of August, but this was the first "ending."  I know on her last day of Day Care, I am going to be Super Emotional....

I took her out for a celebratory ice cream afterward...Gotta love the goofy expression :)

Fun with stamps

This week at Elizabeth's school, they are doing a unit on mail.  Her teacher sent me these pics of Miss E making stamps :)

I love 3 day weekends!!

This past weekend was a long weekend for us, since Monday was a state holiday- Patriot's Day (aka Marathon Monday) here in MA. The weather was amazing, warm and sunny all three days! I was very relieved that the weather was nice on Saturday, since I had a arranged a picnic/playdate at the playground for the families at Elizabeth's school for that day.

On Sunday, we went to Church, then E tried roller skating at Maria's house :)

Then later, we went to my parents' where E rode on her friends' scooter.

On Monday, it was almost 90 degrees in Boston (!!!), so we went with some friends up to Good Harbor Beach in Gloucester for the afternoon. Beautiful, and so much fun!! We were amazed when we got there how crowded it was. It looked and felt more like 4th of July then mid April!

And we're back...

Hello, all! I didn't mean to go almost 2 weeks with out posting- yikes! Just kinda happened. Things have been busy around here, but in a good way :) Here are just a few pics of Miss E.

At school, helping build a Volcano...

Hanging out on her friends' doorstep, hoping they'll be home soon...

My girl loves Targay, lol :)

Hard to believe but true....This Friday I will be registering my baby for KINDERGARTEN!!!

Weekend catch up

Fun weekend so far! On Saturday, we had a play date up in Newbury at a friend's house. Got a few cute pics of the girls (E and my friend's daughter, who is 8) together, but didn't get permission to post them, so I won't. The girls get along really well, despite the 3 year age difference. Another plus is, we get some great hand-me-downs :)


Today, we met up with a bunch of families from E's school and explored the Museum of Natural History at Harvard. We'd never been there before. It was very cool, made even more cool by the fact that it was free! It's free every Sunday morning to all MA residents :) I think we'll definitely be going back.

After the museum, we went to a nearby playground. This winter has been really mild, barely any snow! So nice to be able to go to the playground in February. I thought I left those days behind when we left San Diego!!

Later this afternoon, we joined E's BFF at the Y for a swim. As the Fresh Beat Band would say, what a great day! Ugg, I think I've seen waaaay too much Nick Jr....