Did I Ever Tell You About the Time She Finished Kindergarten?

Kindergarten graduation probably ranks as one of the top 5 days in Meredith's life. The whole year was a blessing--full of surprises, creativity, love and friends. Much of the joy was thanks to Olivia Malland, the world's most amazing kindergarten teacher.

Evidence of Ms. Malland's amazingness? Each student received a huge binder scrapbook full of their work, pictures of them, captions, and reminders about their entire year. It was easily the highlight of the day for Meredith. Ms. Malland surprised them with the books in their classroom after their program, and Meredith would not walk away from the table until we had looked at every page--no small feat.

Mer with Kelcie and Ethan. Adorable, obviously.

The kids did lots of songs in the show, but each Kindergarten class also did their own song. Our kids sang the alphabet backwards, which I found impressive. I can never get past X when I try. Mer had her first speaking part: "Saying the alphabet is easy, but this year, we learned to say it backwards." She nailed it, microphone and all. She's so much cooler than me. Here's part of the song:



After a great Kindergarten program, the party moved to Central BBQ. It was a gorgeous morning on the deck. The pinata was a hit.

And we narrowly avoided an uprising when Kelcie and Lea realized I had chosen not to shake ALL the candy out of the pinata when it hit the ground.

There was a dance party, of course. Blake and Tyler had moves.

And so did all the parents.

After more dancing...



...there was more fun. Walt's Nana and Putty took Walt and Mer to Chuck E. Cheese. At around 5:30, Meredith decided it had been a good day. She put herself to sleep in a guest bed.