School's out for summer!

It's officially summertime around our house! The school year ended last Friday and then we headed to Houston for the long Memorial Day weekend.

Gray has been a bit sad about the whole thing, but I think he'll soon snap out of it with all the fun we have on tap this summer.

After a lot of discussion, we've decided to have Gray repeat kindergarten next year. The official terminology is we're "retaining" him, but really we decided that although he meets the academic standard to progress to first grade, he isn't emotionally ready. Since he's born on the cut-off date and is the youngest kid (by nearly two years in some cases), we knew this would be a possibility heading into the school year.

We met with his teacher and the principal to discuss the pros and cons, and felt there were enough resources in place to continue his academic progress while allowing him to mature and build confidence in his work. Only time will tell if it was the right decision, but he'll have a different teacher next year and he's excited because she's "the science teacher!" Apparently, his class rotated to her room for science this year and he's on cloud nine with the thought of being in her class full-time next year. That kid seriously loves science!

It also helps that most of his buddies from class are moving to different schools and so he won't feel like they are going on to first grade without him. This entire year has been extremely eye opening for what is expected of kids and, man, has the world changed from when I was five.

I'm looking forward to a summer where we can have fun as a family and Gray can continue to enjoy being a kid. Michael took a picture of Gray on the last day of school and he's actually wearing the same shirt from his first day back in August. It's amazing to see the changes in our sweet boy!

First day of school (August 2013)

Last day of school (May 2014). Such a big kid!