Welcome Summer!

The last of school we had a Welcome Summer party. I decorated the kitchen table with a Luau theme and bought the kids lots of fun little summer toys. I wanted Samuel to be surprised when he got home so I told Bella and Isaac they couldn’t say anything to Samuel when we picked him up from his last day of Kindergarten about the surprise waiting at home. The kids were a little confused and thought it was Samuel’s birthday we were celebrating so when Samuel got in the van Isaac said, “I can’t say Happy Birthday to you Samuel.” Then Samuel was a little confused wondering what Isaac was talking about.

I had purchased other decorations, but could not find them anywhere that morning. I looked everywhere and finally decided Bella must have packed them off. Sure enough a couple of days ago I found the decorations stuffed in one of her drawers in the laundry room.

When we got home it took Samuel a long time to notice the decorations and the other kids were dying trying not to spoil the surprise. He was too busy pulling papers out of his backpack and telling us all about his last day of school. Finally he noticed the table and then all the kids excitedly looked through everything.

I was racking my brain trying to come up with what could be our fun last day of school tradition and finally decided that nothing screams summer like homemade ice cream. So while Samuel was at school, the other kids and I made homemade mint chocolate chip ice cream.

We went outside to eat the ice cream and it was so cute to watch Jenna feed herself. She was a total mess!

The kids stayed outside for several hours playing together and having fun in the warm sun. This picture just makes me smile because Samuel and Bella are loving relaxing while drinking lemonade out of their new summer cups.

We’re all super excited for summer to begin!