Cinco De Mayo Fun !
One day I am going to learn that life must be paced. I will admit I am a dreamer and a bit of a workaholic. I admit that I cannot stand to do things half way. I will also go as far to say that perhaps doing the 5K in Branson yesterday and rushing home to get all our Cinco DeMayo celebration activities ready was MAYBE a bit too much for this old teacher. I am exhausted. But, if I had to take part of the day away, I dont know what that would be. It was all so beneficial and fun. Lots of memories were made as we celebrated May 5th and getting ready to go to kindergarten.
The morning started with the kids outside . I told them we had to get our play yard cleaned up because we were having a party out there today. The playhouse was a bit of a disaster from some hard working mulch loving friends on Friday. Alex got in the playhouse and WOW!!!! He cleaned the playhouse so well. It was immaculate. Thanks Alex. We had breakfast outside. As the kids ate I decorated the porch – a few times. The wind was quite contrary and continually blew down our colorful decor.
Our morning continued inside . Ms Gabby came to show the kids how to make homemade tortillas ! It looked so easy but I am sure the next time I go to make them I will find out that Ms Gabby had the magic touch handed down from generations of tortilla making. The kids rolled their dough and pressed it in the tortilla press and then ate the tortilla after it warmed on the griddle.
As Ms Gabby and a couple moms had the kids busy with their tortillas I was in the kitchen making sure the chicken fajitas were cooking, the taquitos , the taco’s and the HUGE taco salad. The taco salad wasnt a traditional mexican dish but I remembered my mom used to fix it and it has a mexican flavor ( Doritois.. ok ! LOL ) and it makes a HUGE bowl.
As the parents started piling in with their mexican faire the table was overwhelmed with yummy dishes. I gave quick directions and blessed our food and the munching commenced. Ms Gabby warned me that real Mexican parties go on FORVER. ( Maybe that was my first clue that we would be late for our 1:00 appointment at the school for our kindergarten tour. ) The food was amazing. There were enchiladas, guacamole, salsa and chips with cheese dip and even a tresleche cake.
We even had a pinate !~
At 1:00 we rushed off to Northside for our official tour. There was 13 kiddos and each child had alteast one parent and many of them had two with them. Barb Macken , the counselor , led our tour. She is amazing. She is wonderful with the kids. We saw the cafeteria, the nurses station ( complete with a real life kid not feeling well ! ) . We saw Koala Camp where kids can get special help with academics such as reading or writing when they need it. We we visited the library… which was my favorite spot in school. We saw the art room and art teacher and the music room. We saw the gym. IT HAS A CLIMBING WALL. I am ancient compared to most of my parents but even as young as they were you could hear ” Man…. when I was a kid we didnt have a gym like this. We didnt have a climbing wall. We had balls and a hula hoop. ” We went in a room. I was so impressed. The kids sat on the carpet with kindergartners and the teacher read them a book. THEY LISTENED QUIETLY. ( Thats the proud teacher in me knowing that the kids are ready for this transition ! ) And then.. what impressed me most. The teacher asked each of the kids to find one my my kiddos and be their buddy and show them around the room. It was amazing to watch as I watched each of my kids be taken by the hand and shown the cubbies or the smart board or other cool things in the room. I was / am. … so very impressed and touched. Also, each of her kids had made a card ” what I like most about kindergarten…” and gave it to each of my kids. The one little card I saw said ” What i like most about kindergarten.. is the whole thing.” That is my prayer for my kids – that they would come to kindergarten socially and academically strong and continue to grow and just love ” the whole thing.”
It really was a great day. It is 3:37 and I am finally home and already in my PJ’s. The food is off the porch and has made it into the kitchen. Guess what we are having for lunch tomorrow kids ? MEXICAN!! 🙂
Thank you to everyone that made today possible. Thanks to the two grandparents ( Bentley and Bailey and Carter ) who stood in and joined us and took them home before the tour. I appreciate you being here. Also, dont blink this time next year will be your kindergarten tour. Thanks for helping with the amazing meal we all shared together. I hope you all remain friends and a support system for each other for a long time. ( You do realize.. that is one of the reasons I do parent activities, right ?Bonding ? ) Happy Cinco De Mayo.