Well, we started a new tradition...and it might be one of my favorites.
It was several of you girls who actually gave me the idea. About two months ago, I mentioned how Kensington was disappointed sometimes that Ashby gets to spend the whole day with me by herself and she doesn't. I told her that she did have her turn...from birth to 16 months, it was all us...but then Smith came along and it was the three of us. (She had her turn, she just doesn't remember it.) She wanted a little during the day alone time with mommy...so, many of you mentioned having a skip day.
I. Loved. This. Idea.
Thus, a tradition was born.
I told my kiddos that each year during the month of May, I will show up at school and surprise them with the rest of the day off. Annnnd...we would do whatever it was that they wanted to do...just the two of us. For this year, I made sure I scheduled these days on one of Ashby's preschool days (so that they got my full attention), checked with their teachers and picked good days for them to leave early and spend alone time with mama. Now that I've done it with both kids, we agreed that we'll continue to do it every year through 12th grade. Let's see if 18 year old Smith wants to spend the day with his mama...he says he will (and I pray he's right!)...but he also says that he'll still want to go to Legoland ;).
Here's a little look at our Skip Days 2016...
Skip day!! Kensington is my "cries when she's happy kid", so the minute she came around the corner at school and saw me (the office had called her class and asked for her to come to the front ready to be dismissed for the day), she burst into happy tears. She was so excited!! Our plan was to go to the American Girl store and have lunch. We were off!
Couldn't love her more.
The girl of the year this year is Lea. Lea loves the beach and baseball...so, Kensington has been eyeing her since January 1. Here she is seeing her in person for the first time.
The look of happy!
We love American Girls at our house :).
Posing next to the cut out of Lea. How old does she look here?!?!
Kensington and Lea.
Lovin' on Lea at lunch too.
We ate lunch and then she asked for cake for dessert. Who am I to deny red velvet cake?!?!
When we got home, we decided to walk to school to meet up with the other two kiddos. Lea came along too. Such a special day with my sweet girl.
The next week, I surprised Smith at school with his Skip Day! He wanted to visit Legoland, so off we went!
This boy has my heart!
Smith is my talker. He talked non-stop on the way there and the whole time we were inside. He loves to talk, so we had some great conversations that weren't interrupted by sisters. (He talks so much that Ashby will often say "stop talking Smith" because she just wants quiet!)
Smith was so serious on this ride. I was taking selfies and he was focused with his laser gun!
My favorite room was the Lego room that looked just like Dallas/Fort Worth. Smith loved the Cowboys' stadium the most!
The 4D movie was a blast because it rained and snowed on us!
He got to drive a Lego car...
And we flew high in the sky on another ride too!
Smith loves building with Legos, so making a Lego car for the track was one of his favorite things.
He did the car track for about an hour!
I'm not quite sure why we had never been to Legoland before??? It was a BLAST! Smith and I had the best time!
Legoland is located right next to Rainforest Cafe...so, off we went for lunch!
My boy with the world's largest restaurant drink ;).
So, those are our Skip Days 2016!
When I look back at this school year, I know that both days will be remembered by all three of us. I spend a lot of time with my kiddos...but this extra time really spoke into all of our hearts. They were two very special days where we talked, we laughed, we shared, we held hands, and we loved on each other even more than normal. You know what they say...the days are long but the years are short. It's still hard to believe they're going into 1st and 2nd grade. It seems like yesterday they were both babies and we were surviving on Cheerios and Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. I'm trying to soak in as much as I can...because I know that I'm going to blink and this phase will be over too. xo
Alright...who knows what's for dinner tonight? If you don't, have no fear...Meal Planning Monday is here!
See all five supper recipes (plus a dessert and breakfast recipe) here!
Enjoy your day friends!
And don't forget, keep up with Every Day in May here. Today is a particuarally good one!
xo