Kindergarten Graduation

The kiddos graduated kindergarten last night and boy was it an experience.

The kiddos were excited and loved having on their caps and gowns. I have to say, it was pretty adorable seeing a bunch of kindergarteners all dressed up. Plus, the way they were asking to take pictures with each other, you would think they were never going to see each other ever again.

Now, their school has graduation down to a science. It's an event planners dream. Everyone has a ticket, you form a line, you present said ticket, proceed to the cafeteria, select a row and park your happy behind. Simple, right? Good God, no. "What do you mean EVERYONE needs a ticket?" Um, you filled out the form to get the ones you have in your hand, right? And this was before graduation even started....

We actually had close seats, not that it mattered. The kiddos processed in to Pomp and Circumstance, naturally, and were just beaming. The classes all sang a couple of songs, too. I did not see my children sing because of this...

Scott was off to the side (like a polite normal person) and took some photos.  OH! I almost forgot. A fight broke out prior to the graduation starting. Yes, a fight broke out at a kindergarten graduation. It was two rows in front of us off to the side. Apparently one family was slightly blocking another family's view. This resulted in several f-bombs, a bird flipping and other obscenities. Kudos to the assistant principals for handling this. 

Anyway...After the songs they received their diplomas, sang two more songs and then processed back out. Now, at this point the principal reminded everyone that only ONE member of the family was the pick up the child and everyone else could wait elsewhere. Seeing how well everyone was already listening, I knew this would be an issue. 

Have I mentioned that I hate crowds?

I had to ask people to move so I could pick up my child. Seriously. Then, Aaron's teacher had to push him through the crowd to me. Unreal. I sent Scott in for Jill. I just couldn't deal.

The kiddos had a wonderful time and we are beyond proud of them! They cannot wait to start first grade and make all new memories!

Ding Dong

I've been swamped the past few days (hence the lack of blog posts).  Saturday we had graduation and it was the last one I worked with Leann. I am not ready for her to leave and wish she could stay forever, even if that meant locking her in a supply closet.

Completely unrelated side note, the kid behind us in the cap just interned on Shark Tank and will actually appear in one of the episodes. We are all pretty pumped about his experience.

Sunday was the last day for us to hang out with my brother and his family. We planned on renting boats and hanging on the lake, but the monsoon prevented us from doing that.

Instead, we had lunch at Whispering Canyon where Meghan polished off a GIANT glass of tea. Like a giant mason jar filled with tea.

I am so glad we were able to spend several days with my brother and his family. The kids had a fantastic time and Aaron even reminded us that the duck should, in fact, be in charge.

Sunday night I left for St. Petersburg to attend a conference. The conference was decent and I enjoyed myself. I even found the Book of Mormon in my room which immediately made me text my sister a photo of it with the caption "Ding Dong!" We reference the musical, Book of Mormon, a lot, so this was perfect.

So let's talk about this hotel for a minute. I stayed at the Renaissance Vinoy hotel. The hotel is gorgeous and very old school Florida. That being said, the hotel reminded me of Tower of Terror. I had a creepy feeling the entire time I was in there, to the point that I slept with my lights on. When I came home today I looked up the hotel and sure enough, it's haunted. I am so glad I didn't look into that while I was there, otherwise I would have checked out.

I would like to thank the spirits that haunt the Vinoy for not bothering me while I was there. It would have been ugly if you did. Ghosts are not my jam. Maybe the Book of Mormon protected me? Well ding dong.